He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered him, “Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
- BSB “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”
- ESV And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
- NKJV He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
- NASB And He answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
- NLT Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 the unbelieving generation and calls for the boy to be brought to him. He grieves their faithlessness yet acts to help.
Overview
Jesus' sorrowful question echoes God's frustration with faithless Israel in the wilderness. The rebuke addresses the disciples, the crowd, and the scribes alike, exposing a pervasive lack of faith. Yet his command to 'bring him to me' shows that the remedy is found in coming to Jesus himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Num 14:11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
- Ps 106:21–25They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
- Matt 17:17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
- Num 14:27How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
- Mark 16:14Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
- Luke 9:41And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
- Luke 24:25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
- John 20:27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
- Heb 3:10–12Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
- Ps 78:6–8That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
- Num 32:13–14And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.
- Ps 78:22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
- Deut 32:20And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
- Num 14:22Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
- John 12:27Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:19 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.