Matthew 11:1-19 - A Question From John The Baptist

¹ And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. ² Now when John had heard in the prison of the works of the Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³ and said to him: Art thou he that was to come, or must we look for another?

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: Go and tell John what you hear and see. ⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them; ⁶ and blessed is he that shall find in me no cause of offense.

⁷ As these were going away, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings houses. ⁹ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

¹¹ Verily, I say to you, Among those born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the Immerser. But the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Immerser till now, the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence, and men of violence seize upon it eagerly. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied till John; ¹⁴ and if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah that was to come. ¹⁵ He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁶ But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the markets, and calling to their companions,

¹⁷ and saying: "We have played on the pipe for you, and you have not danced; we have wailed for you, and you have not lamented.

¹⁸ For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say: He has a demon. ¹⁹ The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and they say: Behold, a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by her children.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John told him of all these things. ¹⁹ And John called to him two of his disciples, and sent them to Jesus, and said: Art thou he that was to come, or must we look for another?

²⁰ And the men came to him and said: John the Immerser has sent us to thee, and says, Art thou he that was to come, or must we look for another?

²¹ And in that very hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and bestowed sight on many that were blind. ²² And Jesus answered and said to them: Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them; ²³ and blessed is he who shall find no cause of offense in me. ²⁴ And when the messengers of John had departed, he began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear splendid apparel, and live in luxury, are in kings houses. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way be fore thee.

²⁸ For I say to you, Among those born of women, there is no prophet greater than John the Immerser. But the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

²⁹ And all the people, and the publicans that heard him, vindicated God, by being immersed with the immersion of John; ³⁰ but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God in regard to themselves, by not being immersed by him.

³¹ To what, then, shall I compare the men of this generation? and to what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the market-place, who call to one another, and say, We have played on the pipe for you, and you have not danced; we have sung mournful songs for you, and you have not lamented.

³³ For John the Immerser came, neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon. ³⁴ The Son of man has come, eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. ³⁵ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.