the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Wycliffe Bible
Matthew 24:26
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So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness!’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms!’ do not believe it.
Wherefore, if they shall say vnto you, Behold, he is in the desert, goe not foorth: Behold, he is in the secret chambers, beleeue it not.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
"So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
"If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert,' don't go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room,' don't believe it.
"So if they say to you, 'Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out there, or, 'Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],' do not believe it.
"So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
So if they tell you, 'There He is in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Here He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
If you are told that the Messiah is out in the desert, don't go there! And if you are told that he is in some secret place, don't believe it!
So if people say to you, ‘Listen! He's out in the desert!' don't go; or, ‘Look! He's hidden away in a secret room!' don't believe it.
If therefore they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, [he is] in the inner chambers, do not believe [it].
"Someone might tell you, ‘The Messiah is there in the desert!' But don't go into the desert to look for him. Someone else might say, ‘There is the Messiah in that room!' But don't believe it.
Wherefore if they shall say vnto you, Beholde, he is in the desert, goe not forth: Beholde, he is in the secret places, beleeue it not.
Therefore, if they should say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, do not go out; or, behold, he is in the room, do not believe it.
"Or, if people should tell you, ‘Look, he is out in the desert!'—don't go there; or if they say, ‘Look, he is hiding here!'—don't believe it.
Therefore if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it!
Then if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness; do not go out. Behold, He is in the inner rooms; do not believe.
If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not.
If, then, they say to you, See, he is in the waste land; go not out: See, he is in the inner rooms; put no faith in it.
If therefore they tell you, 'Behold, he is in the wilderness!' don't go out; 'Behold, he is in the inner chambers,' don't believe it.
So if they say to you, 'Look! He's in the wilderness,' don't go out looking for him.looking for him">[fn] And if they say, 'Look! He's in the storeroom,' don't believe it.
If therefore they shall say to you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: or, Behold, he is in the inner chamber; believe not.
If therefore they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not out: or, Behold, he is in a secret chamber; give no credence.
Wherfore, yf they say vnto you, beholde, he is in the desert: go not foorth. Beholde, he is in the secrete places: beleue it not.
If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not.
If therefore they tell you, 'Behold, he is in the wilderness!' don't go out; 'Behold, he is in the inner chambers,' don't believe it.
Therefore if they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth: Behold he is in the secret chambers, believe it not.
If therefore they should say to you, `See, He is in the Desert!' do not go out there: or `See, He is indoors in the room!' do not believe it.
If therefore they shall say to you, Look, he is in the wilderness; don't go forth: Look, he is in the inner chambers; don't believe [it].
Wherefore, if they shall say to you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe him.
"Therefore if they say to you, "Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or "Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.
"So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it!
If they tell you, ‘See! He is in the desert,' do not go to see. Or if they say, ‘See! He is in the inside room,' do not believe them.
So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
If therefore they should say unto you, Lo! in the desert, he is, Do not go forth; Lo! in the chambers, Do not believe it.
If therefore they shall say to you, Behold he is in the desert: go ye not out. Behold he is in the closets: believe it not.
So, if they say to you, 'Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, 'Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
Wherfore if they shall saye vnto you: beholde he is in ye desert go not forth: beholde he is in ye secret places beleve not.
`If therefore they may say to you, Lo, in the wilderness he is, ye may not go forth; lo, in the inner chambers, ye may not believe;
Wherfore yf they shal saye vnto you: Beholde, he is in the wildernes, go not ye forth:Beholde, he is in the chamber, beleue it not.
wherefore, if they shall say to you, now he is in the desert, do not stir: or now, he is in the secret chambers, believe them not.
"So if they say, ‘Run to the country and see him arrive!' or, ‘Quick, get downtown, see him come!' don't give them the time of day. The Arrival of the Son of Man isn't something you go to see. He comes like swift lightning to you! Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it's not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds.
If a city slicker tells you that Jesus is out in the desert, don't believe them. If someone tells you that I am in a hidden place and they know where to find me, don't believe their forked tongue.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Wherefore: Our Lord not only foretells the appearance of these impostors, but also the manner and circumstance of their conduct. Accordingly, Josephus says that many impostors persuaded the people to follow them to the desert, promising them signs and wonders done by the providence of God. - See also Acts 21:38. One persuaded the people to go up into the temple, which being set on fire by the Romans, 6,000 perished in the flames.
he is in the desert: Matthew 3:1, Isaiah 40:3, Luke 3:2, Luke 3:3, Acts 21:38
Reciprocal: John 18:20 - and in Acts 5:36 - obeyed 2 Peter 3:14 - in peace
Cross-References
and he seide to hise children, Abide ye here with the asse, Y and the child schulen go thidur; and aftir that we han worschipid, we schulen turne ayen to you.
and lowliche Y worschipide the Lord, and Y blessid the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which God ledde me bi riyt weie, that Y schulde take the douytir of the brothir of my lord to his sone.
And whanne the child of Abraham hadde herd this, he felde doun, and worschipide the Lord in erthe.
and the puple bileuede; and thei herden, that the Lord hadde visitid the sones of Israel, and that he hadde biholde the turment of hem; and thei worschipiden lowe.
It is the sacrifice of the passyng of the Lord, whanne he passide ouer the housis of the sones of Israel in Egipt, and smoot Egipcians, and delyueride oure housis. And the puple was bowid, and worschipide.
And hastili Moises was bowid low `in to erthe, and worschipide,
Forsothe Dauid comaundide to al the chirche, Blesse ye `oure Lord God. And al the chirche blesside the Lord God of her fadris, and thei bowiden hem silf, and worschipiden God, aftirward the kyng.
Therfor Josaphat, and Juda, and alle the dwelleris of Jerusalem, felden lowli on the erthe bifor the Lord, and worschypiden hym.
And Ezechie and the princes comaundiden to the dekenes, that thei schulden preise the Lord with the wordis of Dauith, and of Asaph, the profete; whiche preisiden hym with greet gladnesse, and kneliden, and worschipiden.
And Esdras blesside the Lord God with greet vois; and al the puple answeride, Amen, Amen, reisynge her hondis. And thei weren bowid, and thei worschipiden God, lowli on the erthe.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Wherefore if they shall say unto you,.... Any of the false prophets, or the deluded followers of false Christs:
behold, he is in the desert, go not forth: that is, should they affirm, that the Messiah is in such a wilderness, in the wilderness of Judea, or in any other desert place, do not go out of the places where you are to see, or hear, and know the truth of things; lest you should, in any respect, be stumbled, ensnared, and brought into danger. It was usual for these impostors to lead their followers into deserts, pretending to work wonders in such solitary places: so, during the siege, Simon, the son of Giora, collected together many thousands in the mountainous and desert parts of Judea t; and the above mentioned Jonathan, after the destruction of the city, led great multitudes into the desert:
behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not; or should others say behold, or for certain, the Messiah is in some one of the secret and fortified places of the temple; where, during some time of the siege, were John and Eleazar, the heads of the zealots u; do not believe them. Some reference may be had to the chamber of secrets, which was in the temple w;
"for in the sanctuary there were two chambers; one was called ×ש×ת ×ש×××, "the chamber of secrets", and the other the chamber of vessels.''
Or else some respect may be had to the notions of the Jews, concerning the Messiah, which they imbibed about these times, and ever since retained, that he was born the day Jerusalem was destroyed, but is hid, for their sins, in some secret place, and will in time be revealed x. Some say, that he is hid in the sea; others, in the walks of the garden of Eden; and others, that he sits among the lepers at the gates of Rome y. The Syriac version here reads in the singular number, "in the bedchamber"; in some private apartment, where he remains till a proper time of showing himself offers, for fear of the Romans: but these are all idle notions, and none of them to be believed. The true Messiah is come, and has showed himself to Israel; and even the giving out these things discovers a consciousness, and a conviction that the Messiah is come.
t Joseph de Bello. Jud. l. 5. c. 7. u Ib. c. 6. l. 4. w Misn. Shekalim, c. 5. sect. 6. x Aben Ezra in Cant. vii. 5. Targum in Mic. iv. 8. y Vid. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 50.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold, he is in the desert - The Jews had formed the expectation that the Messiah would appear suddenly from some unexpected quarter; hence, many would be looking to desert places, expecting that he would come from them. Accordingly, most of the impostors and pretended prophets led their people into the deserts.
Go not forth - Do not follow them; they will only deceive you.
In secret chambers - Concealed in some house, or some retired part of the city. Many would, doubtless, pretend that the Messiah was concealed there, and, either for the purpose of encouraging or deceiving the people, would pretend that they had discovered him.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Matthew 24:26. If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert — Is it not worthy of remark that our Lord not only foretold the appearance of these impostors, but also the manner and circumstances of their conduct? Some he mentions as appearing in the desert. Josephus says, ANT. b. xx. c. 7, and WAR, book ii. c. 13: That many impostors and cheats persuaded the people to follow them to the desert, promising to show them signs and wonders done by the providence of God, is well attested. An Egyptian false prophet, mentioned by Josephus, ANT. b. xx. c. 7, and in the Acts, Acts 21:38, led out into the DESERT four thousand men, who were murderers, but these were all taken or destroyed by Felix. Another promised salvation to the people, if they would follow him to the DESERT, and he was destroyed by Festus, ANT. b. xx. c. 7. Also, one Jonathan, a weaver, persuaded a number to follow him to the DESERT, but he was taken and burnt alive by Vespasian. See WAR, b. vii. c. 11.
As some conducted their deluded followers to the DESERT, so did others to the secret chambers. Josephus mentions a false prophet, WAR, b. vi. c. 5, who declared to the people in the city, that God commanded them to go up into the temple, and there they should receive the signs of deliverance. A multitude of men, women, and children, went up accordingly; but, instead of deliverance, the place was set on fire by the Romans, and 6,000 perished miserably in the flames, or in attempting to escape them.
