Bible Strands
Luke 10:13
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus pronounces judgment on Chorazin and Bethsaida immediately after comparing them to Sodom in Luke 10:12. He addresses them directly before turning to his warning about Tyre and Sidon in Luke 10:14.
The words — The Greek Οὐαί (ouai) translates literally to "woe," functioning as a formal declaration of impending judgment directed at the two towns. The conditional εἰ (ei) introduces the hypothetical scenario that drives the verse's comparison.
The thread — This warning echoes prophetic judgments against Tyre and Sidon found in Isaiah 23:1, Ezekiel 26:1, and Joel 3:4, where these Gentile cities are condemned for their pride and opposition to God.
Why it lands — The text states that unrepentant exposure to divine miracles increases accountability, requiring immediate repentance rather than passive observation. Readers must confront the reality that spiritual privilege demands a response, not merely acknowledgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 23:1 This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
- Ezekiel 26:1 In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Joel 3:4 Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
- Matthew 11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
- Acts 28:25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
- Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Isaiah 61:3 to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- Ezekiel 3:6 not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
- Mark 8:22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
- Luke 9:10 Then the apostles returned and reported to Jesus all that they had done. Taking them away privately, He withdrew to a town called Bethsaida.