<p>13:14&nbsp;<em>And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said: By hearing you shall hear and shall in no wise understand, and seeing you shall see and shall in no wise perceive-&nbsp;</em>Jesus spoke the parable of the sower so that the Jews &quot;by hearing... shall hear, and... not understand&quot; (Mt.13:14), which is quoting from Is. 6:9,10 concerning Israel hearing the preaching of Jesus during his ministry. This would explain the present tenses in Mk.4:14-20: &quot;These&nbsp;<em>are</em>&nbsp;they by the way side... these&nbsp;<em>are</em>&nbsp;they... which&nbsp;<em>are</em>&nbsp;sown...&quot;. That prophecy evidently had fulfilment at Isaiah's time; the point is thereby established that prophecy can have multiple fulfilments.</p>