What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!
Parallel translations
- WEB What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
- KJV What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
- BSB What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.
- NKJV “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
- NASB What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.
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
What Jesus teaches privately, the disciples are to proclaim publicly and boldly. The gospel is meant to be openly declared, not hidden.
Overview
Jesus commissions His disciples to broadcast His teaching from the housetops, refusing secrecy out of fear. What was first entrusted to the few is to reach the many. The verse undergirds the church's mandate to proclaim Christ openly, trusting that the message given in the intimacy of discipleship is for all the world.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Acts 5:20“Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”
- John 16:13However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
- John 16:1“I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble.
- Prov 1:20–23Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.
- Matt 13:34–35Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,
- Luke 8:10He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
- Matt 13:1–17On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.
- Prov 8:1–5Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice?
- John 16:29His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech.
- Acts 5:28saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”
- 2 Cor 3:12Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,
- Acts 17:17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.
- John 16:25I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
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 10:27 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.