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And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
Mark 6:11 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
  • KJV And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
  • BSB If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”
  • NASB Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.”
  • NLT But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

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

Where they are rejected, the disciples are to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against that place.

Overview

The symbolic act of shaking off dust solemnly warns that rejecting the gospel brings grave accountability before God. Jesus' words about Sodom and Gomorrah stress the seriousness of refusing his messengers. This underscores that how people respond to the gospel carries eternal weight.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Matt 10:14–15Whoever doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.
  • Acts 18:6When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
  • Luke 10:10–15But into whatever city you enter, and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say,
  • Neh 5:13Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise; even be he shaken out, and emptied like this.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise.
  • Jude 1:7Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
  • Matt 11:20–24Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent.
  • Heb 10:26–31For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
  • Rom 2:16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
  • Acts 13:50–51But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders.
  • 1 Jn 4:17In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.
  • 2 Pet 3:7But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
  • Rom 2:5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
  • John 15:22–24If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
  • Ezek 16:48–51As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.
  • 2 Pet 2:9the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
  • Heb 6:4–8For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
  • Luke 9:5As many as don’t receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.”
  • Matt 12:36I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
  • 2 Pet 2:6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 6:11YouTube · 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 MarkMatthew 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

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 6:11 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.