Matthew 11:22 | 1157
37
“ Any one who loves their fa ther or moth er more than me is not wor thy of me ; any one who loves their son or daugh ter more than me is not wor thy of me . 38 Who ev er does not take up their cross and fol low me is not wor thy of me .
39
Who ev er finds their life will lose it , and who ev er los es their life for my sake will find it .
40
“ Any one who wel comes you wel comes me , and any one who wel comes me wel comes the one who sent me . 41 Who ev er wel comes a proph et as a proph et will re ceive a proph et ’ s re ward , and who ev er wel comes a righ teous per son as a righteous per son will re ceive a righ teous per son ’ s re ward . 42 And if any one gives even a cup of cold wa ter to one of these lit tle ones who is my dis ci ple , tru ly I tell you , that per son will cer tain ly not lose their re ward .”
Jesus and John the Baptist
Af ter Jesus had fin ished in struct ing his twelve dis ci ples , he went on from
11 there to teach and preach in the towns of Gal i lee . a
2
When John , who was in pris on , heard about the deeds of the Mes si ah , he sent his disciples
3 to ask him , “ Are you the one who is to come , or should we ex pect some one else ?”
4
Jesus re plied , “ Go back and re port to John what you hear and see : 5 The blind re ceive sight , the lame walk , those who have lep ro sy b are cleansed , the deaf hear , the dead are raised , and the good news is pro claimed to the poor . 6 Blessed is any one who does not stum ble on ac count of me .”
7
As John ’ s dis ci ples were leav ing , Jesus be gan to speak to the crowd about John : “ What did you go out into the wil der ness to see ? A reed swayed by the wind ? 8 If not , what did you go out to see ? A man dressed in fine clothes ? No , those who wear fine clothes are in kings ’ pal ac es . 9 Then what did you go out to see ? A proph et ? Yes , I tell you , and more than a proph et . 10 This is the one about whom it is writ ten :
“ ‘ I will send my messenger ahead of you , who will prepare your way before you .’ c
11
Tru ly I tell you , among those born of wom en there has not ris en any one great er than John the Bap tist ; yet who ev er is least in the king dom of heav en is great er than he . 12 From the days of John the Bap tist un til now , the king dom of heav en has been sub ject ed to vi o lence , d and vi o lent peo ple have been raid ing it . 13 For all the Proph ets and the Law proph e sied un til John . 14 And if you are will ing to ac cept it , he is the Eli jah who was to come . 15 Who ev er has ears , let them hear .
16
“ To what can I com pare this gen er a tion ? They are like chil dren sit ting in the marketplaces and calling out to others :
17
“ ‘ We played the pipe for you , and you did not dance ; we sang a dirge , and you did not mourn .’
18
For John came nei ther eat ing nor drink ing , and they say , ‘ He has a de mon .’
19
The Son of Man came eat ing and drink ing , and they say , ‘ Here is a glut ton and a drunk ard , a friend of tax col lec tors and sin ners .’ But wis dom is proved right by her deeds .”
Woe on Unrepentant Towns
20
Then Jesus be gan to de nounce the towns in which most of his mir a cles had been per formed , be cause they did not re pent . 21 “ Woe to you , Cho ra zin ! Woe to you , Beth sa i da ! For if the mir a cles that were per formed in you had been per formed in Tyre and Si don , they would have re pent ed long ago in sack cloth and ash es .
22
But I tell you , it will be more bear able for Tyre and Si don on the
a 1 Greek in their towns b 5 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin . c 10 Mal . 3:1 d 12 Or been forcefully advancing