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

¹ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished giving commandments to his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. ² Now when John had heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³ and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John those things which 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 up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is he who is not offended in me.

⁷ And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁹ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say unto 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 unto you, Among those that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, life is given unto the kingdom of the heavens, and the valiant take hold of it. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if ye will receive it, this is that Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁶ But unto whom shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and shouting unto their fellows

¹⁷ and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil. ¹⁹ The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified by her children.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John showed him of all these things. ¹⁹ And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?

²⁰ When the men were come unto him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?

²¹ And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight. ²² Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John the things ye have seen and heard: how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached; ²³ and blessed is whoever shall not be offended in me. ²⁴ And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those that are gorgeously apparelled and live delicately are in kings' courts. ²⁶ But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto 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 before thee.

²⁸ For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

²⁹ And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

³¹ And the Lord said, Unto whom then shall I compare the men of this generation? and to what are they like? ³² They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, He has a demon. ³⁴ The Son of man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! ³⁵ But wisdom is justified of all her children.