You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you know how to interpret the present time?
Parallel translations
- WEB You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don’t interpret this time?
- KJV Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
- NKJV Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
- NASB You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?
- NLT You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus calls them hypocrites for reading the sky but not discerning the present time. They culpably ignore the significance of His coming.
Overview
The crowds can interpret the weather yet fail to recognize the momentous time of salvation arriving in Jesus. This blindness is not innocent but a moral failure, a refusal to see what God is plainly doing. Jesus presses them to perceive that in Him the decisive hour of God's kingdom has dawned, demanding response.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 16:3and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
- Matt 24:32–33Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.
- Matt 11:25At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Luke 19:42–44and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- 1 Chr 12:32From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.
- Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
- Mal 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- Gal 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Hag 2:7I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Acts 3:24–26Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 12:56 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.