Matthew 11 good news bible

Here is Matthew 11 in the Good News Bible (GNB):

Matthew 11

Jesus' Praise for John the Baptist

1 Jesus began to send out his twelve apostles with these instructions: "Don't go to any pagan country or visit any Samaritan town. 2 Instead, go to the people of Israel and say, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' 3 Heal the sick, raise the dead, and drive out demons. You have received free of charge; now give free of charge. 4 Do not take any gold or silver or copper coins in your belts— 5 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a walking stick, for the worker deserves his wages. 6 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace be on this house.' 7 If a peaceful person lives there, your blessing will be accepted; but if not, your blessing will be returned to you. 8 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that house or town and shake the dust off your feet. 9 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for that town. 10 "But when you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into its streets and say, 11 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. But know this: the kingdom of heaven has come near.' 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town on the day of judgment.

Jesus' Praise for John the Baptist

13 "But to what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling out to each other: 14 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' 15 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 16 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' 17 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.'

Jesus' Message to the People

18 Then some of John's followers came to him and asked, 'How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your followers do not fast?' 19 Jesus replied, 'The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is still with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast. 20 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment as it grows, and an even bigger tear will result. 21 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.'

The People's Request for a Sign

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to little children. 23 Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 24 All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.' 25 Then they came to Jesus and asked, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' 26 Jesus answered, 'The work God requires is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'

The People's Request for a Sign

27 So they asked him, 'What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 28 Jesus answered them, 'The only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah the prophet. 29 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 30 Men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.'