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36 I tell you the truth,[a] this generation will be held responsible for all these things![b]

Judgment on Israel

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,[c] you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you![d] How often I have longed[e] to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but[f] you would have none of it![g] 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate!

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:36 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
  2. Matthew 23:36 tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”
  3. Matthew 23:37 sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.
  4. Matthew 23:37 tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your…you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill…sent to you”).
  5. Matthew 23:37 sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.
  6. Matthew 23:37 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  7. Matthew 23:37 tn Grk “you were not willing.”