Psalms 49:4

²I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

³⁵that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

⁷He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

⁸With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the LORD’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

¹¹He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. ¹²For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. ¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. ¹⁴In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive; ¹⁵for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’

¹²Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,

³Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

²³“In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding riddles, will stand up.

⁴⁹Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! They say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’”

⁶to understand a proverb and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.