And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever 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.
- KJV And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
- NKJV And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.
- NASB And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet.
- NLT If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.
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 the message is rejected, the disciples are to shake the dust off their feet as they leave. This solemn gesture marks the town's accountability for refusing the gospel.
Overview
Pious Jews shook foreign dust from their feet when leaving Gentile territory; here the act warns that a town rejecting Christ's messengers is treated as outside God's people. It is a testimony against them, placing responsibility on those who refuse rather than on the messengers. The gesture sobers us to the seriousness of spurning the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Luke 10:10–11But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,
- Acts 18:6But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
- Neh 5:13I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
- Acts 13:51So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
- Luke 9:5If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town, as a testimony against them.”
- Mark 6:11If 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.”
- John 13:20Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
- 1 Th 4:8Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
- Matt 18:5And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.
- Matt 10:40–41He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
- Mark 9:37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me.”
- Acts 20:26–27Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
- Luke 9:48And He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest.”
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
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 10:14 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.