Matthew 11:17

‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ¹  we wailed in mourning, ²  yet you did not weep.’

"‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

‘We played wedding songs, and you weren’t happy, so we played funeral songs, but you weren’t sad.’

'We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.'

We made music for you and you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow and you made no signs of grief.

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

"and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’

‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; ¹  we wailed in mourning, ²  yet you did not weep.’

¹ sn ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance…’ The children of this generation were making the complaint (see vv. 18-19) that others were not playing the game according to the way they played the music. John and Jesus did not follow “their tune.” Jesus’ complaint was that this generation wanted things their way, not God’s.

² tn The verb ἐθρηνήσαμεν (eqrhnhsamen) refers to the loud wailing and lamenting used to mourn the dead in public in 1st century Jewish culture.