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

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.

And he took up his parable and said: Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, denounce Israel!

Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! They say of me, Does he not speak parables?

He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

for the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, that they should not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their heart and convert, and I should heal them.

to understand a proverb and an enigma; the words of the wise, and their difficult sayings.

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king shall stand forth, having fierce countenance and understanding sinister schemes.

Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use much boldness;