And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
Parallel translations
- WEB When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism.
- BSB All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.
- NKJV And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
- NASB When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
- NLT When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John.
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
The common people and tax collectors, having received John's baptism, acknowledged God's justice. Those who repented affirmed the rightness of God's ways.
Overview
Those who had submitted to John's baptism of repentance vindicated God by receiving His messenger and His call. Even despised tax collectors responded rightly, while the religious elite did not. This highlights that humble repentance, not status, prepares the heart to receive God's saving work in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 3:12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
- Luke 7:35But wisdom is justified of all her children.
- Matt 21:31–32Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
- Matt 3:5–6Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
- Acts 18:25This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
- Rom 10:3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
- Acts 19:3And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.
- Rev 16:5And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
- Ps 51:4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
- Rev 15:3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
- Judg 1:7And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
- Rom 3:4–6God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 7:29 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.