What the Bible Says About Symbolic Truth: A Definition and Exploration

Scripture

¹ After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.
² And behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass.
³ And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
⁴ So the ugly and thin cows ate up the seven attractive and plump cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
⁵ And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
⁶ And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
⁷ And the seven plump ears and the seven full ears were blighted by the east wind.
⁸ So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today.
¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the captain of the guard’s house, me and the chief baker.
¹¹ So we sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Please give us food. For why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”
¹² And there was with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream.
¹³ And there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile.
¹⁸ Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile.
¹⁹ Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.
²⁰ And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows,
²¹ And when they had eaten them up, the appearance of the cows that came up first was still ugly, as at the beginning.
²² And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, were growing on one stalk.
²³ And behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them,
²⁴ And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.
²⁷ The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.
²⁸ It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
²⁹ Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
³⁰ but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
³¹ and the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt.
³² And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
³⁴ Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.
³⁵ They should gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
³⁶ And that food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Genesis 41:1-36

Exodus 12:1-28: ¹ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
² “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.
³ Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old.
⁶ and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
⁷ Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
¹⁰ And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
¹⁴ “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
¹⁵ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
¹⁶ On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
¹⁷ And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.
¹⁸ In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
¹⁹ For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.
²² Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
²³ For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
²⁴ You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.
²⁵ And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.
²⁶ And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
²⁷ Then you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Numbers 21:4-9: ⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.
⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”
⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
⁷ And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Judges 9:7-15: ⁷ Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and cried out.
⁸ The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’
¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’
¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹³ “But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’”
¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’
¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

Daniel 2:1-45: ¹ In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
² Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
³ And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
⁴ Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.
⁶ But if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.”
⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.”
⁸ The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm—
⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.”
¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
¹² Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
¹⁵ He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
¹⁸ That they might seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.
²⁰ Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
²¹ He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
²² he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
²³ To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.
²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”
²⁵ Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”
²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,”
²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.
²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.
³⁰ But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
³¹ You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.
³² The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze,
³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
³⁴ As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
³⁶ This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.
³⁷ You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,
³⁸ And wherever the children of man dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens he has given into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
³⁹ Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
⁴⁰ And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.
⁴¹ And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.
⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.
⁴³ As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.
⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
⁴⁵ just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.

Daniel 7:1-28: ¹ In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.
² Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
³ And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
⁴ The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.
⁵ And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’
⁶ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
⁸ I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
⁹ “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
¹⁰ A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
¹¹ “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.”
¹² As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
¹³ I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
¹⁴ And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
¹⁵ “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.
¹⁶ I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.
¹⁷ These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.
¹⁸ But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.
¹⁹ “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet,
²⁰ and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.
²¹ As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,
²² until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
²³ “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
²⁴ As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.
²⁵ He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
²⁶ But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
²⁷ And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.’
²⁸ “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”

Hosea 1:2-11: ² When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
³ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
⁵ And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.
⁶ She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
⁷ But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.
⁸ When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son.
⁹ And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
¹¹ And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Ezekiel 37:1-14: ¹ The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
² And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’
¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

Matthew 13:1-23: ¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.
³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.
⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
⁶ But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.
⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.
¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower:
¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
²¹ Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

Matthew 13:24-43: ²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,
²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
²⁶ But when the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
²⁷ And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
³³ He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
³⁴ All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.
³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house.
³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13:44-52: ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,”
⁴⁶ He found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.”
⁴⁸ When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
⁴⁹ So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous.
⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”
⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

John 10:1-18: ¹ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”
² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
³ The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

John 15:1-8: ¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Revelation 1:12-20: ¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
¹⁹ Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 12:1-17: ¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,
⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!
¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
¹⁵ The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 17:1-18: ¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,
² with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
⁹ This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
¹¹ As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.
¹⁴ They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
¹⁵ And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.