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Matthew 13:10–13

The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, xTo you it has been given to know ythe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 zFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, aeven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because bseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, cnor do they understand.

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Matthew 13:10–13 — The New International Version (NIV)

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — New Living Translation (NLT)

10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

11 He replied, You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.

They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — New Century Version (NCV)

10 The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use stories to teach the people?”

11 Jesus answered, “You have been chosen to know the secrets about the kingdom of heaven, but others cannot know these secrets. 12 Those who have understanding will be given more, and they will have all they need. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them. 13 This is why I use stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — American Standard Version (ASV)

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

10 And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables? 11 And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given; 12 for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand;

Matthew 13:10–13 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

10 The disciples asked him, “Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?” 

11 Jesus answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd. 12 Those who understand ⸤these mysteries⸥ will be given ⸤more knowledge⸥, and they will excel ⸤in understanding them⸥. However, some people don’t understand ⸤these mysteries⸥. Even what they understand will be taken away from them. 13 This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

10 Then the disciples came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered them, Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

10 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’

Matthew 13:10–13 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

10 And the disciples came up and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those people it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand,

Matthew 13:10–13 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

10 The disciples came to him. They asked, “Why do you use stories when you speak to the people?”

11 He replied, “You have been given the chance to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It has not been given to outsiders. 12 Everyone who has that kind of knowledge will be given more. In fact, they will have very much. If anyone doesn’t have that kind of knowledge, even what little he has will be taken away from him. 13 Here is why I use stories when I speak to the people. I say,

“They look, but they don’t really see.

They listen, but they don’t really hear or understand.

Matthew 13:10–13 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 Jesus answered them, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.


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