Matthew 11:1-19 ▼

1 And it came to pass, when Jesus finished directing His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 And John having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

3 said to Him, “Are You He who is coming, or do we look for another?”

4 And Jesus answering said to them, “Having gone, declare to John the things that you hear and see,

5 blind receive sight, and lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear, dead are raised, and poor have good news proclaimed,

6 and blessed is he who may not be stumbled in Me.”

7 And as they are going, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out to the wilderness to view? A reed shaken by the wind?

8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those wearing the soft things are in the 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 has been written: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.

11 Truly I say to you, there has not risen, among those born of women, [one] greater than John the Immerser, but he who is least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Immerser until now, the kingdom of the heavens suffers violence, and violent men seize it by force,

13 for all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,

14 and if you are willing to receive [it], he is Elijah who was about to come;

15 he who is having ears to hear—let him hear.

16 And to what will I liken this generation? It is like little children in marketplaces, sitting and calling to others,

17 and saying, We piped to you, and you did not dance, we lamented to you, and you did not strike the breast.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon;

19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man, a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners; and wisdom was justified of her children.”