The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”^(A)

³⁹ He answered them,^(B) “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^(C)

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹¹ The^(A) Pharisees^(B) came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign^(C) from heaven^(D) to test^(E) him. ¹² Sighing deeply in his spirit,^(F) he said, “Why does this generation^(G) demand a sign? Truly I tell you,^(H) no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.

¹⁴ The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Then^(I) he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven^[a](J) of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”^{(K) 16} They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. ¹⁷ Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?^{(L) 18} Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear?^[b](M) And do you not remember?^{(N) 19} When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they told him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹ And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” ^(O)

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds,^(A) “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does.^{(B) 55} And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites!^(C) You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time?^(D)