Mark 4:10-12

English Standard Version

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰And ^(A)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, ^(B)“To you has been given ^(C)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^(D)those outside everything is in parables, ¹²^(E)so that

“‘they ^(F)may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they ^(G)should turn and be forgiven.’”

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Isaiah 6:8-13

English Standard Version

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(A)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

^(B)“‘Keep on hearing,^[a] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[b] but do not perceive.’
¹⁰^(C)Make the heart of this people ^(D)dull,^[c]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
^(E)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
¹¹Then I said, ^(F)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until ^(G)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
¹²and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
¹³^(H)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned^[d] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump ^(I)remains
    when it is felled.”
^(J)The holy seed^[e] is its stump.