Matthew 13:10–16

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

¹¹Jesus answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd. ¹²Those 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. ¹³This 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. ¹⁴So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true: 

‘You will hear clearly but never understand. 

You will see clearly but never comprehend. 

¹⁵These people have become close-minded 

and hard of hearing. 

They have shut their eyes 

so that their eyes never see. 

Their ears never hear. 

Their minds never understand. 

And they never return to me for healing!’ 

¹⁶“Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear.