And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities.
Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples
and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see:
the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have {Or, the gospel}good tidings preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.
And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings' houses.
{Many ancient authorities read But what went ye out to see? A prophet? }But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
This is he, of whom it is written,
{Malachi 3:1}Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way before thee.
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is {Greek: lesser.}but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if ye are willing to receive {Or, him}it, this is Elijah, that is to come.
He that hath ears {Some ancient authorities omit to hear.}to hear, let him hear.
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows
and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not {Greek: beat the beast.}mourn.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon.
The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of {See marginal note on chapter 5:46.}publicans and sinners! And wisdom {Or, was}is justified by her {Many ancient authorities read children: as in Luke 7:35.}works.
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his {Greek: powers.}mighty works were done, because they repented not.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the {Greek: powers.}mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.
And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt {Many ancient authorities read be brought down.}go down unto Hades: for if the {Greek: powers.}mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
At that season Jesus answered and said, I {Or, praise}thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
yea, Father, {Or, that}for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.
All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Querverweise zu Matthäus 11,21 Mt 11,21
Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!
And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away.
The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, {Greek: more than.}a greater than Jonah is here.
Wherefore I {Or, loathe my words}abhor myself,And repent in dust and ashes.
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven {Greek: before.}against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. {Some authorities insert here, or after verse 12, verse 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation. See Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47.}
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Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of {Greek: Gehenna.}hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the {Or, sanctuary: as in verse 35.}temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the {Or, sanctuary: as in verse 35.}temple, he is a {Or, bound by his oath.}debtor.
Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the {Or, sanctuary: as in verse 35.}temple that hath sanctified the gold?
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a {Or, bound by his oath.}debtor.
Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
And he that sweareth by the {Or, sanctuary: as in verse 35.}temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and {Or, dill}anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.
Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous,
And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring to him a blind man, and beseech him to touch him.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, {Greek: more than.}a greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born {Or, from above See verse 31, chapter 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15,17}anew.
{Or, The Spirit breatheth}The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?
The Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is {See marginal note on chapter 10:4.}betrayed! good were it {Greek: for him if that man.}for that man if he had not been born.
And the apostles, when they were returned, declared unto him what things they had done. And he took them, and withdrew apart to a city, called Bethsaida.
not to many peoples {Hebrew: deep of lip and heavy of tongue,}of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee.
I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart.
But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Woe unto you Pharisees! for ye love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces.
Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not.
And one of the lawyers answering saith unto him, Teacher, in saying this thou reproachest us also.
And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they killed them, and ye build their tombs.
Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill and persecute;
that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the {Greek: house.}sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.
Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
And the next sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of {Many ancient authorities read the Lord.}God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and {Or, railed}blasphemed.
And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, {Isaiah 49:6}I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles,That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of {Many ancient authorities read the Lord.}God: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Woe unto them! for they went in the way of Cain, and {Or, cast themselves away through}ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers,
saying, {Isaiah 6:9, 10}Go thou unto this people, and say,By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross,And their ears are dull of hearing,And their eyes they have closed;Lest, haply they should perceive with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart,And should turn again,And I should heal them.
Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear. {Some ancient authorities insert verse 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, having much disputing among themselves.}