³¹ And the Lord said, `To what, then, shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

¹⁶ `And to what shall I liken this generation? it is like little children in market-places, sitting and calling to their comrades,

¹⁷ and saying, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance, we lamented to you, and ye did not smite the breast.

¹⁸ `For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon;

¹⁹ the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Lo, a man, a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners, and wisdom was justified of her children.'

¹³ What do I testify `to' thee, what do I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What do I equal to thee, and I comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For great as a sea `is' thy breach, Who doth give healing to thee?

³⁰ And he said, `To what may we liken the reign of God, or in what simile may we compare it?