Then ¹  the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Now when ¹  Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there.

Jesus spoke ¹  to them again in parables, saying:

He taught them many things in parables, ¹  and in his teaching said to them:

Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds; he did not speak to them without a parable.

He ¹  told them many things in parables, ²  saying: “Listen! ³  A sower went out to sow. ⁴ 

When ¹  the chief priests and the Pharisees ²  heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.

So ¹  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ²  “How can Satan cast out Satan?

So ¹  with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: ¹  “I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” ² 

Then I said, “O sovereign Lord! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech?’”

I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; ¹  I spoke in parables ²  through ³  the prophets.”

When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then ¹  how will you understand any parable?

For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand.

He said to them, “The secret ¹  of the kingdom of God has been given ²  to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables,

Then ¹  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey.

He ¹  said, “You have been given ²  the opportunity to know ³  the secrets ⁴  of the kingdom of God, ⁵  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ⁶ 

To discern ¹  the meaning of ²  a proverb and a parable, ³  the sayings of the wise ⁴  and their ⁵  riddles. ⁶ 

He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.