Luke 13:31-35
New Revised Standard Version
©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.

{31} At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him,
                        "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."
{32}         He said to them,
                        "Go and tell that fox for me,
                                    'Listen, I am casting out demons
                                                            and performing cures 
                                                   today and tomorrow,
                                                                                    and on the third day I finish my work.
{33}                                     Yet today, tomorrow,           and the next day
                                                            I must be on my way,
                                                                        because it is impossible for a prophet
                                                                                        to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'

{34}                 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets
                                                                      and stones those who are sent to it!
                                    How often have I desired to gather your children together
                                                as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
                                                            and you were not willing!
{35}                                                                 See, your house is left to you.
                                And I tell you, you will not see me
                                        until the time comes when you say,
                                                'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

             There are no parallels in the other gospels to Luke 12:32-33, but Matthew includes what Jesus said in 12:34-35 - though it is placed much later in the story, spoken in Jerusalem.  "Jerusalem" is a key term for Luke, as it is referred to 90 times in Luke & Acts, whereas it is only mentioned 49 times in the remainder of the New Testament (in the NRSV, it's 91 & 51, respectively). Note how vs. 33 ends with it, and vs. 34 begins with it, twice. Thus, "Jerusalem. Jerusalem Jerusalem,"
             The other parallel to v. 34-35 is from the Old Testament apocrypha (see Esdra ), i.e. it is not found in the canon of the Bible as we have received it, though it is included in Catholic versions.

Matthew 23:37-39

{37} "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! {38} See, your house is left to you, desolate. {39} For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Luke 13:34-35

{34} Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! {35} See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

2 Esdras 1:28-30

{28} "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her children, {29} so that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my children and I should be your father? {30} I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence.

for further study see "The Text this Week."

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