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.
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.
- BSB And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
- 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 into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,
- Acts 18:6And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
- Neh 5:13Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.
- Acts 13:51But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
- Luke 9:5And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
- Mark 6:11And 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.
- John 13:20Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
- 1 Th 4:8He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
- Matt 18:5And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
- Matt 10:40–41He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
- Mark 9:37Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.
- Acts 20:26–27Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
- Luke 9:48And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.
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.