Luke 7:11-35

New American Standard Bible

¹¹ Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, ^[a]accompanied by a large crowd. ¹² Now as He approached the gate of the city, ^[b]a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ When ^(A)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not go on weeping.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ^16 (B)Fear gripped them all, and they began ^(C)glorifying God, saying, “A great ^(D)prophet has appeared among us!” and, “God has ^[c]visited His people!” ^17 (E)And this report about Him spread throughout Judea and in all the surrounding region.

The Messengers from John

^18 (F)The disciples of John also reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ And after summoning ^[d]two of his disciples, John sent them to ^(G)the Lord, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to ^[e]look for another?” ²⁰ When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, ^[f]to ask, ‘Are You the Coming One, or are we to ^[g]look for another?’” ²¹ At that very ^[h]time He ^(H)cured many people of diseases and ^(I)afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were ^(J)blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and ^(K)people who are poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ And blessed is ^[i]anyone who does not take offense at Me.”

²⁴ When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the ^[j]wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ^25 [k]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written:

²⁸ I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is ^[m]least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged ^(M)God’s justice, ^(N)having been baptized with ^(O)the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the ^[n](P)lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by ^[o]John.

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.’ ³³ For John the Baptist has come neither ^(Q)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 ^[p]heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and ^[q]sinners!’ ³⁵ And yet wisdom ^(R)is vindicated by all her children.”