Matthew 21:31

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Which of the two did his father's pleasure? They say, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that tax-farmers and loose women are going into the kingdom of God before you.

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Referenced Verses

  • Luke 7:29 : 29 (And all the people, and the tax-farmers, to whom John had given baptism, when they had knowledge of these things, gave glory to God.
  • Luke 7:37-50 : 37 And there was a woman in the town who was a sinner; and when she had news that he was a guest in the Pharisee's house, she took a bottle of perfume, 38 And went in and took her place at the back of him, near his feet, weeping, so that his feet were washed with the drops from her eyes, and with her hair she made them dry, and kissing his feet she put the perfume on them. 39 Now when the Pharisee in whose house he was saw it, he said to himself, This man, if he was a prophet, would be conscious what sort of woman this is who has put her hands on him, that she is a sinner. 40 And Jesus, answering, said, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Master, say on. 41 And he said, Two men were in debt to a certain man of business: one had a debt of five hundred pence, and the other of fifty. 42 When they were unable to make payment, he made the two of them free of their debts. Which of them, now, will have the greater love for him? 43 Simon, in answer, said, It seems he whose debt was greater. And he said, Your decision is right. 44 And turning to the woman he said to Simon, You see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet: but she has been washing my feet with the drops from her eyes, and drying them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss: but she, from the time when I came in, has gone on kissing my feet. 46 You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet. 47 And so I say to you, She will have forgiveness for her sins which are great in number, because of her great love: but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love. 48 And he said to her, You have forgiveness for your sins. 49 And those who were seated at table with him said to themselves, Who is this who even gives forgiveness of sins? 50 And he said to the woman, By your faith you have salvation; go in peace.
  • 2 Pet 3:9 : 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.
  • Luke 15:1-2 : 1 Now all the tax-farmers and sinners came near to give ear to him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes were angry, saying, This man gives approval to sinners, and takes food with them.
  • Luke 15:10 : 10 Even so, I say to you, There is joy among the angels of God, when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing.
  • Luke 19:9-9 : 9 And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.
  • Luke 19:22 : 22 He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed;
  • Acts 17:30 : 30 Those times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart:
  • Rom 3:19 : 19 Now, we have knowledge that what the law says is for those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all men may be judged by God:
  • Rom 5:20 : 20 And the law came in addition, to make wrongdoing worse; but where there was much sin, there was much more grace:
  • Rom 9:30-33 : 30 What then may we say? That the nations who did not go after righteousness have got righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: 31 But Israel, going after a law of righteousness, did not get it. 32 Why? Because they were not searching for it by faith, but by works. They came up against the stone which was in the way; 33 As it is said, See, I am putting in Zion a stone causing a fall, and a rock in the way: but he who has faith in him will not be put to shame.
  • 1 Tim 1:13-16 : 13 Though I had said violent words against God, and done cruel acts, causing great trouble: but I was given mercy, because I did it without knowledge, not having faith; 14 And the grace of our Lord was very great, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 It is a true saying, in which all may put their faith, that Christ Jesus came into the world to give salvation to sinners, of whom I am the chief: 16 But for this reason I was given mercy, so that in me, the chief of sinners, Jesus Christ might make clear all his mercy, as an example to those who in the future would have faith in him to eternal life.
  • Matt 7:21 : 21 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven.
  • Matt 9:9 : 9 And when Jesus was going from there, he saw a man whose name was Matthew, seated at the place where taxes were taken; and he said to him, Come after me. And he got up and went after him.
  • Matt 12:50 : 50 For whoever does the pleasure of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
  • Matt 18:3 : 3 And said, Truly, I say to you, If you do not have a change of heart and become like little children, you will not go into the kingdom of heaven.
  • Matt 20:16 : 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.
  • 2 Sam 12:5-7 : 5 And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this: 6 And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;
  • Job 15:6 : 6 It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.
  • Ezek 33:11 : 11 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the evil-doer; it is more pleasing to me if he is turned from his way and has life: be turned, be turned from your evil ways; why are you looking for death, O children of Israel?
  • Matt 5:18 : 18 Truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth come to an end, not the smallest letter or part of a letter will in any way be taken from the law, till all things are done.
  • Matt 6:5 : 5 And when you make your prayers, be not like the false-hearted men, who take pleasure in getting up and saying their prayers in the Synagogues and at the street turnings so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Matt 21:32-33
    2 verses
    86%

    32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you had no faith in him, but the tax-farmers and the loose women had faith in him: and you, when you saw it, did not even have regret for your sins, so as to have faith in him.

    33 Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country.

  • Matt 21:28-30
    3 verses
    81%

    28 But how does it seem to you? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go and do work today in the vine-garden.

    29 And he said in answer, I will not: but later, changing his decision, he went.

    30 And he came to the second and said the same. And he made answer and said, I go, sir: and went not.

  • Luke 15:11
    75%

    11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

  • Luke 13:30
    74%

    30 And the last will be first, and the first will be last.

  • Luke 3:12
    74%

    12 Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?

  • Matt 20:16
    73%

    16 So the last will be first, and the first last.

  • Luke 18:10
    72%

    10 Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer.

  • Mark 10:31
    72%

    31 But a great number who are first will be last: and those who are last will be first.

  • Luke 15:1
    72%

    1 Now all the tax-farmers and sinners came near to give ear to him.

  • Matt 7:21
    71%

    21 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven.

  • Mark 2:15-17
    3 verses
    71%

    15 And it came about that he was seated at meat in his house, and a number of tax-farmers and sinners were at table with Jesus and his disciples: for there were a great number of them, and they came after him.

    16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was taking food with the tax-farmers and sinners, said to his disciples, Why does he take food and drink with such men?

    17 And Jesus, hearing it, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill: I have come not to get the upright but sinners.

  • Matt 19:30
    71%

    30 But a great number who are first will be last, and some who are last will be first.

  • Matt 5:46-47
    2 verses
    71%

    46 For if you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? do not the tax-farmers the same?

    47 And if you say, Good day, to your brothers only, what do you do more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?

  • Matt 22:1-3
    3 verses
    70%

    1 And Jesus, talking to them again in stories, said:

    2 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a feast when his son was married,

    3 And sent out his servants to get in the guests to the feast: and they would not come.

  • Luke 15:30
    70%

    30 But when this your son came, who has been wasting your property with bad women, you put to death the fat young ox for him.

  • Matt 9:10-11
    2 verses
    70%

    10 And it came about, when he was in the house taking food, that a number of tax-farmers and sinners came and took their places with Jesus and his disciples.

    11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your Master take food with tax-farmers and sinners?

  • Matt 21:36-37
    2 verses
    70%

    36 Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to them.

    37 But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son.

  • Luke 7:31-32
    2 verses
    70%

    31 What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like?

    32 They are like children who are seated in the market-place, crying out to one another, and saying, We made music for you, but you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow, but you were not sad.

  • Matt 8:11-12
    2 verses
    70%

    11 And I say to you that numbers will come from the east and the west, and will take their seats with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:

    12 But the sons of the kingdom will be put out into the dark, and there will be weeping and cries of pain.

  • Luke 18:13-14
    2 verses
    70%

    13 The tax-farmer, on the other hand, keeping far away, and not lifting up even his eyes to heaven, made signs of grief and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

    14 I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

  • Luke 15:3
    70%

    3 And he made a story for them, saying,

  • Luke 14:21
    70%

    21 And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body.

  • Matt 18:23
    70%

    23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants.

  • Luke 16:15
    69%

    15 And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.

  • Matt 11:19-20
    2 verses
    69%

    19 The Son of man has come feasting, and they say, See, a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners! And wisdom is judged to be right by her works.

    20 Then he went on to say hard things to the towns where most of his works of power were done, because they had not been turned from their sins.

  • Luke 15:21
    69%

    21 And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son.

  • Luke 13:28
    69%

    28 There will be weeping and cries of sorrow when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are shut outside.

  • Luke 7:34
    69%

    34 The Son of man came feasting, and you say, Here is a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners.

  • Matt 3:2
    69%

    2 Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near.

  • Matt 5:20
    69%

    20 For I say to you, If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.

  • Luke 18:17
    69%

    17 Truly I say to you, Whoever does not put himself under the kingdom of God like a little child, will not come into it at all.

  • Luke 5:30
    69%

    30 And the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples, saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners?

  • Matt 23:13
    68%

    13 But a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you are shutting the kingdom of heaven against men: for you do not go in yourselves, and those who are going in, you keep back.

  • Matt 20:7
    68%

    7 They say to him, Because no man has given us work. He says to them, Go in with the rest, into the vine-garden.

  • Luke 5:32
    68%

    32 I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins.

  • Matt 18:17
    68%

    17 And if he will not give ear to them, let it come to the hearing of the church: and if he will not give ear to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-farmer.