Parables of Jesus
This page lists 43 parables of Jesus from Matthew, Mark and Luke. Luke has 30 of them, Matthew 23 and Mark 9. 7 are told in all three Gospels and 18 only in Luke. The longest is the prodigal son, 507 words in the King James Version (Luke 15:11-32).
Updated October 24, 2026. References and word counts are from the King James Version; the World English Bible is compared where it differs. A word count is every word in the passage, counted once per occurrence.
The parables of Jesus, Gospel by Gospel
The table lists 43 parables with every reference in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Words are the King James count for the longest telling, which is the reference shown in bold.
| # | Parable | Matthew | Mark | Luke | KJV words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The sowercalled a parable in Luke 8:4 | 13:3-9 | 4:3-9 | 8:5-8 | 135 |
| 2 | The wheat and the tarescalled a parable in Matthew 13:24 | 13:24-30 | - | - | 167 |
| 3 | The mustard seedcalled a parable in Matthew 13:31 | 13:31-32 | 4:30-32 | 13:18-19 | 79 |
| 4 | The leavencalled a parable in Matthew 13:33 | 13:33 | - | 13:20-21 | 32 |
| 5 | The hidden treasure | 13:44 | - | - | 37 |
| 6 | The pearl of great price | 13:45-46 | - | - | 34 |
| 7 | The net | 13:47-50 | - | - | 84 |
| 8 | The lost sheepcalled a parable in Luke 15:3 | 18:12-14 | - | 15:4-7 | 103 |
| 9 | The unforgiving servant | 18:23-35 | - | - | 289 |
| 10 | The labourers in the vineyard | 20:1-16 | - | - | 338 |
| 11 | The two sons | 21:28-32 | - | - | 136 |
| 12 | The wicked husbandmencalled a parable in Matthew 21:33 | 21:33-41 | 12:1-9 | 20:9-16 | 201 |
| 13 | The marriage feastcalled a parable in Matthew 22:1 | 22:2-14 | - | - | 268 |
| 14 | The budding fig treecalled a parable in Matthew 24:32 | 24:32-33 | 13:28-29 | 21:29-31 | 57 |
| 15 | The faithful and wise servant | 24:45-51 | - | 12:42-48 | 203 |
| 16 | The ten virgins | 25:1-13 | - | - | 207 |
| 17 | The talents | 25:14-30 | - | - | 410 |
| 18 | The sheep and the goats | 25:31-46 | - | - | 378 |
| 19 | The growing seed | - | 4:26-29 | - | 79 |
| 20 | The doorkeeper | - | 13:34-37 | - | 80 |
| 21 | The good Samaritan | - | - | 10:30-37 | 204 |
| 22 | The friend at midnight | - | - | 11:5-8 | 111 |
| 23 | The rich foolcalled a parable in Luke 12:16 | - | - | 12:16-21 | 131 |
| 24 | The watchful servantscalled a parable in Luke 12:41 | - | - | 12:35-38 | 101 |
| 25 | The barren fig treecalled a parable in Luke 13:6 | - | - | 13:6-9 | 97 |
| 26 | The places at the weddingcalled a parable in Luke 14:7 | - | - | 14:8-11 | 114 |
| 27 | The great supper | - | - | 14:16-24 | 216 |
| 28 | The tower builder | - | - | 14:28-30 | 59 |
| 29 | The king going to war | - | - | 14:31-32 | 53 |
| 30 | The lost coin | - | - | 15:8-10 | 78 |
| 31 | The prodigal son | - | - | 15:11-32 | 507 |
| 32 | The unjust steward | - | - | 16:1-8 | 212 |
| 33 | The rich man and Lazarus | - | - | 16:19-31 | 299 |
| 34 | The unprofitable servants | - | - | 17:7-10 | 110 |
| 35 | The unjust judgecalled a parable in Luke 18:1 | - | - | 18:2-8 | 127 |
| 36 | The Pharisee and the publicancalled a parable in Luke 18:9 | - | - | 18:10-14 | 122 |
| 37 | The poundscalled a parable in Luke 19:11 | - | - | 19:12-27 | 351 |
| 38 | The two debtors | - | - | 7:41-42 | 41 |
| 39 | The lamp under a bushel | 5:15 | 4:21 | 8:16 11:33 | 34 |
| 40 | New cloth on an old garmentcalled a parable in Luke 5:36 | 9:16 | 2:21 | 5:36 | 44 |
| 41 | New wine in old bottles | 9:17 | 2:22 | 5:37-39 | 55 |
| 42 | The wise and foolish builders | 7:24-27 | - | 6:47-49 | 107 |
| 43 | The children in the marketplace | 11:16-17 | - | 7:31-32 | 56 |
Each reference runs from the verse where the story starts to its last line. Some end with a closing comment, as Matthew 20:16 does, and some stop before one, as Luke 16:8 does. A verse that only introduces the story is left out, and so are the explanations of the sower and the tares given later in Matthew 13. The Gospels call 16 of the 43 a parable in a verse at the start of the story or soon after it; that verse is shown under the name. The World English Bible names some differently: its Matthew 13:3 has "a farmer", and Matthew 13:36 calls the tares "darnel weeds".
How many parables are in each Gospel?
Luke has the most, 30 of the 43. Matthew has 23 and Mark 9. A parable told in two or three Gospels counts once in each.
18 are found only in Luke: the good Samaritan, the friend at midnight, the rich fool, the watchful servants, the barren fig tree, the places at the wedding, the great supper, the tower builder and the king going to war. The others only in Luke are the lost coin, the prodigal son, the unjust steward, the rich man and Lazarus, the unprofitable servants, the unjust judge, the Pharisee and the publican, the pounds and the two debtors.
11 are found only in Matthew: the wheat and the tares, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, the net, the unforgiving servant and the labourers in the vineyard. The others only in Matthew are the two sons, the marriage feast, the ten virgins, the talents and the sheep and the goats. 7 of Matthew's 23 are in chapter 13. Mark has 2 of its own: the growing seed and the doorkeeper.
Which parable is the longest?
The prodigal son is the longest, at 507 King James words in Luke 15:11-32. These are the ten longest tellings.
At the other end is the leaven: even its longer telling, Luke 13:20-21, has 32 words. The longest telling of each of the 43 parables adds up to 6,546 words.
How often does the Bible say "parable"?
The King James Version uses "parable" or "parables" 65 times, 47 of them in the New Testament. The World English Bible has 69.
| Book | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 7 | 7 |
| Job | 2 | 2 |
| Psalms | 2 | 1 |
| Proverbs | 2 | 3 |
| Isaiah | 0 | 1 |
| Ezekiel | 3 | 3 |
| Hosea | 0 | 1 |
| Micah | 1 | 1 |
| Habakkuk | 1 | 1 |
| Matthew | 17 | 17 |
| Mark | 12 | 13 |
| Luke | 17 | 18 |
| John | 1 | 1 |
John has the word 1 time in the KJV and 1 in the WEB, both at John 10:6, about the sheepfold saying of John 10:1-5. The KJV of John 10:6 reads "This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them." The WEB reads "Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them." Elsewhere John's Gospel says "proverbs" in the KJV and "figures of speech" in the WEB (John 16:25). Mark 4:30 asks "with what comparison" in the KJV and "with what parable" in the WEB. The parable word page counts the forms in more detail.
Why Jesus spoke in parables
Jesus says the disciples are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, and the others hear parables, because "they seeing see not" (Matthew 13:11-13). He says it when the disciples ask him, in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8.
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Matthew 13:34 adds that "without a parable spake he not unto them", and Matthew 13:35 gives the prophet's words "I will open my mouth in parables". Psalm 78:2 reads "I will open my mouth in a parable". Mark 4:34 says that when they were alone, "he expounded all things to his disciples."
How this page decided what counts as a parable
This page counts a story or extended comparison Jesus tells in Matthew, Mark or Luke. No verse numbers the parables, so the total depends on which stories a list counts. It keeps three short ones, the lamp, the new cloth and the new wine, because each is told in all three Gospels. It includes the sheep and the goats, whose comparison is in Matthew 25:32: "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats". These shorter sayings are left out:
- The blind leading the blind (Luke 6:39): Luke 6:39 calls it a parable.
- The strong man bound (Matthew 12:29, Mark 3:27, Luke 11:21): Mark 3:23 says he spoke in parables.
- What defiles a man (Matthew 15:11): Matthew 15:15 and Mark 7:17 call it a parable.
- Physician, heal thyself (Luke 4:23): the KJV calls it a proverb, the WEB a parable.
- The householder's treasure (Matthew 13:52): one verse.
- The thief in the night (Matthew 24:43, Luke 12:39): two verses.
- The children of the bridechamber (Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34): a question, not a story.
- The unclean spirit that returns (Matthew 12:43-45, Luke 11:24-26): a warning about one man.
- The sheepfold (John 10:1-5): John 10:6 calls it a parable; John is outside the table.
What these counts leave out
The counts measure the English text, not the meaning. A different rule for what counts as a parable gives a different total, and a different start or end verse changes a word count. Similar stories are kept as separate rows: the great supper (Luke 14) and the marriage feast (Matthew 22), and the pounds (Luke 19) and the talents (Matthew 25). The table leaves out John and the Old Testament books that use the word.
Questions about the parables of Jesus
How many parables did Jesus tell?
No verse numbers them, so the total depends on the rule a list uses. This page counts 43 in Matthew, Mark and Luke, using one rule: a story or extended comparison Jesus tells. Shorter sayings, such as the blind leading the blind, are listed separately and left out of the total.
What is the longest parable of Jesus?
The prodigal son, Luke 15:11-32, at 507 words in the King James Version. The talents comes next at 410 words (Matthew 25:14-30).
Which parables are in all three Gospels?
7 of the 43: the sower, the mustard seed, the wicked husbandmen, the budding fig tree, the lamp under a bushel, new cloth on an old garment and new wine in old bottles. They are told in Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Are there parables in the Gospel of John?
John uses the word only at John 10:6 (1 in the King James Version, 1 in the World English Bible). Both call the sheepfold saying in John 10:1-5 "this parable". This table covers Matthew, Mark and Luke only.
Why did Jesus speak in parables?
He answers the question in Matthew 13:13 (KJV): "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." Mark 4:11-12 and Luke 8:10 give a similar answer.
Sources
- The King James Version (1769) and the World English Bible, both public domain: every verse quoted and every count on this page, counted by scripts/lists/parables-of-jesus.mjs from the text at github.com/seven1m/open-bibles (read and counted 2026-10-24).
Read the miracles of Jesus and the names of Jesus. See how long Matthew, Mark and Luke are, or count the word parable. More counts are on the Bible by the numbers.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-24.