11 ² JOHN, WHO WAS IN PRISON, heard what Christ was doing, and sent his own disciples to him 11 ³ with this message: 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect some other?' 11 ⁴ Jesus answered, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: 11 ^{5 [ Is.35.5-6, Is.42.18, Is.61.1. ]} the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the poor are hearing the good news— 11 ⁶ and happy is the man who does not find me a stumbling-block.'

11 ⁷ When the messengers were on their way back, Jesus began to speak to the people about John: 'What was the spectacle that drew you to the wilderness? A reed-bed swept by the wind? No? 11 ⁸ Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? Surely you must look in palaces for that. 11 ⁹ But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes indeed, and far more than a prophet. 11 ^{10 [ Mal.3.1. ]} He is the man of whom Scripture says,

"Here is my herald, whom I send on ahead of you,
And he will prepare your way before you." 11 ¹¹ I tell you this: never has there appeared on earth a mother's son greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.
11 ¹² 'Ever since the coming of John the Baptist the kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and violent men Or: has been forcing its way forward, and men of force ... are seizing it. 11 ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law foretold things to come until John appeared, 11 ¹⁴ and John is the destined Elijah, if you will but accept it. 11 ¹⁵ If you have ears that can hear, then hear.

11 ¹⁶ 'How can I describe this generation? They are like the children sitting in the market-place and shouting at each other,


11 ¹⁷ "We piped for you and you would not dance."
"We wept and wailed, and you would not mourn."
11 ¹⁸ For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He is possessed." 11 ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look at him! a glutton and a drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!" And yet God's wisdom is proved right by its results.'


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Notes: This page displays the Revised Standard Version as flowing text. The katapi New Study Bible reference section has been incorporated into the page as follows: Links to parallel passages show below passage headings. Links to Old Testament quotations in New Testament verses show after the verse number.
Quotations of OT passages by NT authors can in most cases be viewed within their context of the OT passage as a whole, with the quoted text displayed in bold font, coloured blue.
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Please e-mail me. © Paul Ingram 2012.