Mark 4:10-12

Later, when Jesus was alone, the twelve apostles and others around him asked him about the stories. Jesus said, “You can know the secret about the kingdom of God. But to other people I tell everything by using stories so that: ‘They will look and look, but they will not learn. They will listen and listen, but they will not understand. If they did learn and understand, they would come back to me and be forgiven.’ ”