Jesus spoke ¹  to them again in parables, saying:

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

Opposite the 35 feet ¹  that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories.

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

What we have heard and learned ¹  – that which our ancestors ²  have told us –

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.

For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers ¹  were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones.

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

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

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

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,

Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree.

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 

For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ; ²  no, ³  we were ⁴  eyewitnesses of his ⁵  grandeur. ⁶ 

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

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

But reject those myths ¹  fit only for the godless and gullible, ²  and train yourself for godliness.

The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty in each story. There were offsets in the wall all around to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that the supports were not in the wall of the temple.