Matthew 10:14

And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses the Twelve during his commissioning speech, instructing them on the response to a household or town that refuses to receive them.

The words — δέξηται (dexētai, "shall receive/accept") and ἀκούσῃ (akousē, "shall hear/heed") are the two conditions that trigger the action; both are aorist subjunctive, marking a hypothetical refusal rather than a foregone certainty.

The thread — The same instruction appears in Luke's parallel (Luke 10:10); Paul enacts the gesture in Acts 18:6 by shaking out his garments; Nehemiah 5:13 uses the same physical act of shaking out robe folds to declare disassociation.

Why it lands — It demands a decisive, irreversible break rather than a continued attempt to persuade; the reader is asked to stop investing in those who have already said no.

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

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

Cross-references

Luke 10:10 But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,
Acts 18:6 But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Nehemiah 5:13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
Acts 13:51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
Mark 6:11 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”
Luke 9:5 If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town, as a testimony against them.”
John 13:20 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
1 Thessalonians 4:8 Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
Matthew 10:40 He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
Matthew 18:5 And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.