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Sunday, August 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Bible in Basic English

Luke 3:10

And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Liberality;   Righteousness;   Scofield Reference Index - Repentance;   Thompson Chain Reference - Awakenings and Religious Reforms;   Awakenings, Religious;   Religious;   The Topic Concordance - Deeds;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Genealogy;   Mary;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - John the baptist;   Justice;   Repentance;   Work;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Baptize, Baptism;   John the Baptist;   Repentance;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Gospels;   Paul;   Holman Bible Dictionary - John;   Luke, Gospel of;   Ordinances;   Repentance;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - John the Baptist;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Asceticism (2);   Benedictus;   Common Life;   Confession (of Sin);   Eternal Punishment;   John the Baptist;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Herod, Family of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - John the Baptist;   Luke, the Gospel of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Christianity in Its Relation to Judaism;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.
King James Version (1611)
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we doe then?
King James Version
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
English Standard Version
And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?"
New American Standard Bible
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what are we to do?"
New Century Version
The people asked John, "Then what should we do?"
Amplified Bible
The crowds asked him, "Then what are we to do?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?"
Legacy Standard Bible
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what should we do?"
Berean Standard Bible
The crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"
Contemporary English Version
The crowds asked John, "What should we do?"
Complete Jewish Bible
The crowds asked Yochanan, "So then, what should we do?"
Darby Translation
And the crowds asked him saying, What should we do then?
Easy-to-Read Version
The people asked John, "What should we do?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the people asked him, saying, What shall we doe then?
George Lamsa Translation
And the people asked him saying, What then shall we do?
Good News Translation
The people asked him, "What are we to do, then?"
Lexham English Bible
And the crowds were asking him, saying, "What then should we do?"
Literal Translation
And the crowd asked him, saying, What then shall we do?
American Standard Version
And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?
Hebrew Names Version
The multitudes asked him, "What then must we do?"
International Standard Version
The crowds kept asking him, "What, then, should we do?"Acts 2:37;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And the assemblies inquired of him, saying, What then shall we do ?
Murdock Translation
And the multitudes asked him, and said: What, then, shall we do?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the people asked hym, saying: What shall we do then?
English Revised Version
And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?
World English Bible
The multitudes asked him, "What then must we do?"
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the multitude asked him, saying, What then shall we do? He answering saith to them,
Weymouth's New Testament
The crowds repeatedly asked him, "What then are we to do?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the puple axide hym, and seiden, What thanne schulen we do?
Update Bible Version
And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?
Webster's Bible Translation
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
New English Translation
So the crowds were asking him, "What then should we do?"
New King James Version
So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"
New Living Translation
The crowds asked, "What should we do?"
New Life Bible
The people asked him, "Then what should we do?"
New Revised Standard
And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the multitude began to question him saying - What, then, shall we do?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the people asked him, saying: What then shall we do?
Revised Standard Version
And the multitudes asked him, "What then shall we do?"
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And the people axed him sayinge: What shall we do then?
Young's Literal Translation
And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, `What, then, shall we do?'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the people axed him, and sayde: What shal we do then?
Mace New Testament (1729)
Upon which the people asked him, what then shall we do?
THE MESSAGE
The crowd asked him, "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Simplified Cowboy Version
John was sure enough givin' 'em the what for and they shouted, "Then what should we do?"

Contextual Overview

1 Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene, 2 When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land. 3 And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. 4 As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. 5 Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God. 7 So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? 8 Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham. 9 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire. 10 And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What: Luke 3:8, Acts 2:37, Acts 9:6, Acts 16:30

Reciprocal: Matthew 3:8 - forth 1 Corinthians 7:20 - abide Ephesians 4:28 - steal no more

Cross-References

Genesis 2:25
And the man and his wife were without clothing, and they had no sense of shame.
Genesis 3:7
And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
Genesis 3:18
Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food;
Exodus 3:6
And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.
Exodus 32:25
And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:
Job 23:15
For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me.
Psalms 119:120
My flesh is moved for fear of you; I give honour to your decisions.
Isaiah 33:14
The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?
Isaiah 47:3
The shame of your unclothed condition will be seen by all: I will give punishment without mercy,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the people asked him,.... Not the same as in Luke 3:7 the Sadducees and Pharisees, for they seemed not to be at all affected with, and wrought upon, by the ministry of John; but rather were displeased with him, and turned their backs on him, and rejected him and his baptism; but the common people, that stood by; who hearing John speak of wrath to come, and of repentance, and fruits worthy of it, were filled with concern about these things, and inquire,

saying, what shall we do? either to escape the wrath and vengeance coming on the nation, and also eternal ruin and destruction; and Beza says, that in two of his copies, and one of them his most ancient one it is added, "to be saved", and so in two of Stephens's; which confirms the above sense, and makes their inquiry to be the same with the jailor's, Acts 16:30 or else their meaning is, what are the things we are to do, or the fruits we are to bring forth, the duties we are to perform, in order to testify the truth and genuineness of our repentance? which latter seems most agreeable.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What shall we do, then? - John had told them to bring forth fruits appropriate to repentance, or to lead a life which showed that their repentance was genuine. They very properly, therefore, asked how it should be done, or what “would be” such a life.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 3:10. What shall we do then? — The preaching of the Baptist had been accompanied with an uncommon effusion of that Spirit which convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The people who heard him now earnestly begin to inquire what they must do to be saved? They are conscious that they are exposed to the judgments of the Lord, and they wish to escape from the coming wrath.


 
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