The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,

^15 (A)No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant ^(B)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(C)all that I have heard from my Father ^(D)I have made known to you.

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And ^(A)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (A)“Hear then the parable of the sower:

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

¹⁷ And when he had entered ^(A)the house and left the people, ^(B)his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(C)are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,

³⁴ He did not speak to them ^(A)without a parable, but ^(B)privately to his own disciples he ^(C)explained everything.

¹⁵ But Peter said to him, ^(A)“Explain the parable to us.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into ^(A)the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^(B)“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”