1 And Jesus came into the region of Dalmanutha, and some of the Pharisees sought from him a sign.
2 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after signs? Do ye not know that signs belong to the Lord and He giveth them as He willeth?
3 And he left them and departed from that city.1
4 And a parable concerning the faithless is that a man died and was buried;
5 And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off.
6 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send someone that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
7 But Abraham said, Son, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they that would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
8 Then he said, I pray thee father that thou wouldest send some one to my father’s house:
9 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
10 Abraham saith, They have the words of the prophets; let them hear them.
11 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
12 And he said unto him, If they hear not the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.2
13 Then Jesus began to reproach the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done and which repented not:
14 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes.
15 But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement than for you.
16 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.3
17 And there came unto him certain of the Pharisees, saying, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.4
18 And when they were gone, he said to his disciples, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.5
19 And he departed with them privately into a desert place belonging to the region of Bethsaida in the Tetrarchy of Philip.6
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Notes
- Mark 8:11-13; Matt. 12:38-45; Luke 11:29-32. ↩
- Cf. Luke 16:19-31. ↩
- Matt. 11:21-24; Luke 10:13-15. ↩
- Luke 13:31. When Herod Antipas heard about the activities of Jesus, probably through some of the Pharisees, he considered the possibility that the Baptist’s disciples might cause him some inconvenience under the leadership of Jesus. He, however, did not want to take any repressive action since it would have only added to the unpopularity he had earned by executing John. He merely tried to get Jesus out of his territory by conveying a threat through the Pharisees, who, on their part, also wanted Jesus out of their own way. ↩
- Mark 8:15. It seems Jesus understood what the Pharisees and Herod were trying to achieve (see Note 4 above). ↩
- Mark 6:31; Matt. 14:13; Luke 9:10; John 6:1. Mark and Luke state explicitly that Jesus departed into a desert place with his disciples after their return from the missionary journey. Matthew, however, since he puts this journey before John’s death (cf. Note 3, Chapter 13) implies that Jesus retreated as soon as he heard about John’s death. ↩