23. Blessed is he who is not led to stumble because of Me.”
24. And after John’s messengers left, He began to speak about John to the crowds. “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
25. No? So what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine garments? Look, those who wear finery and live in luxury are in the palaces of kings!
26. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, even more than a prophet.
27. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
28. I say to you, there is no one greater than John among those born of women; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
29. And when all the people heard, even the tax collectors, they affirmed God’s justice, because they had been immersed with John’s immersion.
30. But the Pharisees and Torah lawyers, not having been immersed by John, declared God’s purpose invalid for themselves.
31. “So then, to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?
32. They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other, saying, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We sang a dirge, and you didn’t weep.’
33. “For John the Immerser has come not eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’