Disciples of Isaiah

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.^(A)

⁴ But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth,^[a] and evil^[b] shall increase.”^(A)

⁵ Now Moses was faithful in all God’s^[a] house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later.^(A)

³⁴ he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.^(A)

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret^[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,^(A)

¹¹ He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets^[a] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.^(A)

¹¹ The vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to those who can read with the command, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot, for it is sealed.”^{(A) 12} And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot read.”

¹⁰ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus.^[a] Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus^[b] is the spirit of prophecy.”^(A)

⁴ And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”^(A)

⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”^(A)