²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”^(A)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.^{(A) 6} Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.^(B)

¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^{(A) 15} Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(B) on the day of judgment^(C) than for that town.^(D)

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁸ For John came neither eating^(A) nor drinking,^(B) and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’^(C) But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Woe on Unrepentant Towns^(D)

²⁰ Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!^(E) For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon,^(F) they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.^{(G) 22} But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.^{(H) 23} And you, Capernaum,^(I) will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.^[a](J) For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”^(K)

¹³ “Woe to you,^(A) Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth^(B) and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum,^(C) will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.^[a]

The Sign of Jonah^(A)(B)

³⁸ Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign^(C) from you.”^(D)

³⁹ He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^{(E) 40} For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,^(F) so the Son of Man^(G) will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.^{(H) 41} The men of Nineveh^(I) will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,^(J) and now something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came^(K) from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

The Sign of Jonah^(A)

²⁹ As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign,^(B) but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.^{(C) 30} For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom;^(D) and now something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah;^(E) and now something greater than Jonah is here.

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.^{(A) 7} So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down!^(B) Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

²⁸ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth,^(A) when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ People will come from east and west^(B) and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”^(C)