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11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; 12 so that[a] they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

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Footnotes

  1. 4.12 so that . . . : One might rephrase this: “so that the scripture might be fulfiled”; cf. Jn 18.32; 19.24, 28. It was not God’s intention to prevent their understanding. Matthew avoids this difficulty by writing, “I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see” (Mt 13.13).

11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God(A) has been given to you. But to those on the outside(B) everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a](C)

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10