Luke 7:31

Contemporary English Version

Jesus went on to say: What are you people like? What kind of people are you?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord said, whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

King James Version
And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

English Standard Version
"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

New American Standard Bible
"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

New Century Version
Then Jesus said, "What shall I say about the people of this time? What are they like?

Amplified Bible
"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation [who set aside God's plan], and what are they like?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

Legacy Standard Bible
"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

Berean Standard Bible
"To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like?

Complete Jewish Bible
"Therefore," said the Lord, "how can I describe the people of this generation? What are they like?

Darby Translation
To whom therefore shall I liken the men of this generation, and to whom are they like?

Easy-to-Read Version
"What shall I say about the people of this time? What can I compare them to? What are they like?

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lord saide, Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation? and what thing are they like vnto?

George Lamsa Translation
To whom, therefore, shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

Good News Translation
Jesus continued, "Now to what can I compare the people of this day? What are they like?

Lexham English Bible
"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

Literal Translation
And the Lord said, Then to what shall I compare the men of this generation? And to what are they like?

American Standard Version
Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?

Bible in Basic English
What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like?

Hebrew Names Version
The Lord said, "To what then will I liken the men of this generation? What are they like?

International Standard Version
"To what can I compare the people of this generation?Matthew 11:16;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
With what therefore shall I compare the men of this generation, and to what are they like ?

Murdock Translation
To what, therefore, shall I compare this generation? and to what are they like?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde sayde: Whervnto shall I lyken the men of this generation? and what [thyng] are they lyke?

English Revised Version
Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?

World English Bible
The Lord said, "To what then will I liken the men of this generation? What are they like?

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
To whom then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?

Weymouth's New Testament
"To what then shall I compare the men of the present generation, and what do they resemble?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord seide, Therfor to whom schal Y seie `men of this generacioun lijk, and to whom ben thei lijk?

Update Bible Version
To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?

Webster's Bible Translation
And the Lord said, To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

New English Translation
"To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

New King James Version
And the Lord said, [fn] "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?

New Living Translation
"To what can I compare the people of this generation?" Jesus asked. "How can I describe them?

New Life Bible
Then the Lord said, "What are the people of this day like?

New Revised Standard
"To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Unto what, then, shall I liken the men of this generation? And unto what are they like?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said: Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?

Revised Standard Version
"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And ye lorde sayd: Wher vnto shall I lyke the men of this generacion and what thinge are they lyke?

Young's Literal Translation
And the Lord said, `To what, then, shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the LORDE saide: Where vnto shal I licken the men of this generacion? And whom are they like?

Mace New Testament (1729)
To what therefore shall I compare the men of this generation? who are they like?

THE MESSAGE
"How can I account for the people of this generation? They're like spoiled children complaining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.' John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a lush. Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then Jesus said, "Let me see if I can explain the folks of this generation.

Contextual Overview

²⁰ When these messengers came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the one we should be looking for? Or are we supposed to wait for someone else?'" ²¹ At that time Jesus was healing many people who were sick or in pain or were troubled by evil spirits, and he was giving sight to a lot of blind people. ²² Jesus said to the messengers sent by John, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. Blind people are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People who have leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can now hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. ²³ God will bless everyone who doesn't reject me because of what I do." ²⁴ After John's messengers had gone, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: What kind of person did you go out to the desert to see? Was he like tall grass blown about by the wind? ²⁵ What kind of man did you really go out to see? Was he someone dressed in fine clothes? People who wear expensive clothes and live in luxury are in the king's palace. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? Was he a prophet? He certainly was! I tell you that he was more than a prophet. ²⁷ In the Scriptures, God calls John his messenger and says, "I am sending my messenger ahead of you to get things ready for you." ²⁸ No one ever born on this earth is greater than John. But whoever is least important in God's kingdom is greater than John. ²⁹ Everyone had been listening to John. Even the tax collectors had obeyed God and had done what was right by letting John baptize them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Whereunto: Lamentations 2:13, Matthew 11:16-19, Mark 4:30

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:20 - a very Luke 13:18 - Unto

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord said,.... This clause is not in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, nor in some copies, nor in Beza's most ancient copy; and being omitted, more clearly shows, that the two former verses are the words of Christ, and not an observation the evangelist makes, on the different behaviour of Christ's hearers, upon the commendation he had given of John:

whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation; or "to what men shall I liken them", as the Persic version: the phrase "men of this generation", is Rabbinical; so דרא ההוא אושי, the men of that "generation", are more beautiful in work than these, says the Targumist on Ecclesiastes 7:11. "And to what are they like?" To that which follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in Matthew 11:2-19.

Luke 7:29

The people - The common people.

That heard him - That heard “John.”

The publicans - The tax-gatherers, the worst kind of people, who had, however, been converted.

Justified God - Considered God as “just” or “right” in the counsel which he gave by John - to wit, in calling people to repentance, and in denouncing future wrath on the impenitent. Compare Matthew 11:19.

Being baptized ... - They “showed” that they approved of the message of God by submitting to the ordinance which he commanded - the ordinance of baptism. This verse and the following are not to be considered as the words of “Luke,” but the continuation of the discourse of our Lord. He is saying what took place in regard to John. Among the common people he was approved and obeyed among the rich and learned he was despised.

Luke 7:30

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected ... - It appears from Matthew 3:7 that some of the Pharisees came to John to be baptized; but still this is entirely consistent with the supposition that the great mass of Pharisees and lawyers rejected him.

The counsel of God - The counsel of God toward them was the solemn admonition by John to “repent” and be baptized, and be prepared to receive the Messiah. This was the command or revealed will of God in relation to them. When it is said that they “rejected” the counsel of God, it does not mean that they could frustrate his purposes, but merely that they violated his commands. Men cannot frustrate the “real” purposes of God, but they can contemn his messages, they can violate his commands, and thus they can reject the counsel which he gives them, and treat with contempt the desire which he manifests for their welfare.

Against themselves - To their own hurt or detriment. God is wise and good. He knows what is best for us. He, therefore, that rejects what God commands, rejects it to his own injury. It “cannot” be well for any mortal to despise what God commands him to do.

Luke 7:31-35

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 11:16-19. “And the Lord said.” This clause is wanting in almost all the manuscripts, and is omitted by the best critics.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 31. And the Lord said — Almost every MS. of authority and importance, with most of the versions, omit these words. As the Evangelistaria (the books which contained those portions of the Gospels which were read in the Churches) began at this verse, the words were probably at first used by them, to introduce the following parable. There is the fullest proof that they never made a part of Luke's text. Every critic rejects them. Bengel and Griesbach leave them out of the text.