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?
Parallel translations
- 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?
- BSB 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?
- 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 16:3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times!
- Matt 24:32–33“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Luke 19:42–44saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
- 1 Chr 12:32Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their command.
- Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
- Mal 4:2But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.
- Gal 4:4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Hag 2:7and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.
- Acts 3:24–26Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of 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.