13 ¹⁰ The disciples went up to him and asked, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?' 13 ¹¹ He replied, 'It has been granted to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven; but to those others it has not been granted. 13 ¹² For the man who has will be given more, till he has enough and to spare; and the man who has not will forfeit even what he has. 13 ¹³ That is why I speak to them in parables; for they look without seeing, and listen without hearing or understanding. 13 ^{14 [ Is.6.9-10, Ez.12.2. ]} There is a prophecy of Isaiah which is being fulfilled for them: "You may hear and hear, but you will never understand; you will look and look, but you will never see. 13 ¹⁵ For this people's mind has become gross; their ears are dulled, and their eyes are closed. Otherwise, their eyes might see, their ears hear, and their mind understand, and then they might turn again, and I would heal them."

13 ¹⁶ 'But happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear! 13 ¹⁷ Many prophets and saints, I tell you, desired to see what you now see, yet never saw it; to hear what you hear, yet never heard it.