He who has ears, let him hear.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
- KJV Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
- NKJV He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
- NASB The one who has ears, let him hear.”
- NLT Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus calls those with ears to hear to listen carefully and take the parable to heart.
Overview
This refrain summons hearers to spiritual attentiveness, not mere physical hearing. It implies that true understanding is a gift requiring a receptive heart. The call presses each listener to examine which soil describes their own response.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rev 2:11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
- Matt 11:15He who has ears, let him hear.
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
- Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
- Rev 2:29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
- Mark 4:9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
- Mark 7:14–15Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:
- Matt 13:16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
- Rev 3:6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
- Rev 3:22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
- Rev 13:8–9And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.
- Rev 3:13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
- Mark 4:23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 13:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.