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and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:42 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
  • KJV Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
  • NKJV saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
  • NASB saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
  • NLT “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.

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 laments that Jerusalem does not know the things that make for peace, now hidden from her eyes. Spiritual blindness leads to ruin.

Overview

Jesus mourns that the city failed to recognize in him the way of true peace with God. The hiddenness of these things reflects the judicial consequence of persistent unbelief. The verse is a solemn warning that rejecting Christ forfeits the peace he alone can give.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • Deut 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
  • Luke 1:77–79to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
  • Heb 10:26–29If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
  • Isa 48:18If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
  • 2 Cor 6:1–2As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
  • Heb 3:15As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
  • 2 Cor 3:14–16But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
  • 2 Cor 4:3–4And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
  • Acts 10:36He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
  • Isa 55:6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
  • John 12:35–36Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
  • Matt 13:14–15In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
  • Luke 19:44They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
  • John 12:38–41This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
  • Heb 3:13But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
  • 2 Th 2:9–12The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
  • Heb 12:24–26to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
  • Ezek 18:31–32Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
  • Ezek 33:11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
  • Acts 28:25–27They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
  • Isa 29:10–14For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
  • Acts 13:46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
  • Isa 44:18They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
  • Isa 6:9–10And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
  • Rom 11:7–10What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
  • Ps 32:6Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
  • Ps 81:13If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
  • Deut 5:29If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
  • Heb 3:7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,
  • Luke 10:5–6Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’
  • Ps 95:7–8For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,
  • Luke 2:10–14But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 19:42YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 19:42 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.