Luke 19:44
King James Version
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground,
and thy children within thee;
and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
because thou knewest not
the time of thy visitation.
JERUSALEM was once destroyed in 70 A.D.
That's why JESUS wept, as He prophesied about it.
He knew what would happen, and why it had to.
To understand that, we look to other Bible versions.
That we may comprehend what JESUS meant when He said, "thou knewest not the time of thy visitation".
Luke 19:44
Amplified Bible
44 and they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation].”
Luke 19:44
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
44 And they will dash you down to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, [all] because you did not come progressively to recognize and know and understand [from observation and experience] the time of your visitation [that is, when God was visiting you, the time [a]in which God showed Himself gracious toward you and offered you salvation through Christ].
Luke 19:44
Christian Standard Bible
44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”
Luke 19:44
Common English Bible
44 They will crush you completely, you and the people within you. They won’t leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God.”
Luke 19:44
Complete Jewish Bible
44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another — and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!”
Luke 19:44
Contemporary English Version
44 They will level you to the ground and kill your people. Not one stone in your buildings will be left on top of another. This will happen because you did not see that God had come to save you.
Luke 19:44
Easy-to-Read Version
44 They will destroy you and all your people. Not one stone of your buildings will stay on top of another. All this will happen because you did not know the time when God came to save you.”
Luke 19:44
Evangelical Heritage Version
44 Within your walls, they will dash you and your children to the ground. And within your walls, they will not leave one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time when God came to help you.
Luke 19:44
Expanded Bible
44 They will ·destroy you [level you; smash you to the ground] and all your ·people [L children within your walls], and not one stone will be left on another. All this will happen because you did not recognize the time ·when God came to save you [L of your visitation; C the failure to recognize God’s “visit” in Jesus (see 1:68, 78) will result in a divine “visit” in judgment].”
Luke 19:44
International Standard Version
44 They will level you to the ground—you and those who live[a] within your city limits.[b] They will not leave one stone on another within your walls,[c] because you didn’t recognize the time when you were visited.
Luke 19:44
J.B. Phillips New Testament
The sight of the city moves him to tears
44 The time is coming when your enemies will encircle you with ramparts, surrounding you and hemming you in on every side. And they will hurl you and all your children to the ground—yes, they will not leave you one stone standing upon another—all because you did not know when God Himself was visiting you!”
Luke 19:44
Living Bible
44 and crush you to the ground, and your children within you; your enemies will not leave one stone upon another—for you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.”
Luke 19:44
The Message
44 They’ll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit.”
Luke 19:44
New English Translation
44 They will demolish you[a]—you and your children within your walls[b]—and they will not leave within you one stone[c] on top of another,[d] because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.
Luke 19:44
New International Reader's Version
44 You didn’t recognize the time when God came to you. So your enemies will smash you to the ground. They will destroy you and all the people inside your walls. They will not leave one stone on top of another.”
Luke 19:44
New International Version
44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:44
New Life Version
44 They will destroy you and your children with you. There will not be one stone on another. It is because you did not know when God visited you.”
Luke 19:44
New Living Translation
44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.
Luke 19:44
New Testament for Everyone
44 They will bring you crashing to the ground, you and your children within you. They won’t leave one single stone on another, because you didn’t know the moment when God was visiting you.”
Lukas 19:44
Orthodox Jewish Bible
44 And they will dash you to the ground, you and your yeladim with you. And they will not leave an even (stone) upon an even (stone) within you, because you did not have daas of the zman (time) of your YOM PEKUDDAH (visitation, reckoning [YESHAYAH 10:3]).
Luke 19:44
The Voice
44 Your enemies will smash you into rubble and not leave one stone standing on another, and they will cut your children down too, because you did not recognize the day when God’s Anointed One visited you.
In SUMMARY, "thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" means:
you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation]
you did not come progressively to recognize and know and understand [from observation and experience] the time of your visitation [that is, when God was visiting you, the time [a]in which God showed Himself gracious toward you and offered you salvation through Christ]
you did not recognize the time when God visited you
you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God
you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!
you did not see that God had come to save you
you did not know the time when God came to save you
you did not recognize the time when God came to help you
you did not recognize the time ·when God came to save you [L of your visitation; C the failure to recognize God’s “visit” in Jesus (see 1:68, 78) will result in a divine “visit” in judgment]
you didn’t recognize the time when you were visited
you did not know when God Himself was visiting you!
you have rejected the opportunity God offered you
you didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit
you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God
You didn’t recognize the time when God came to you.
you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you
you did not know when God visited you
you did not recognize it when God visited you
you didn’t know the moment when God was visiting you
you did not have daas of the zman (time) of your YOM PEKUDDAH (visitation, reckoning [YESHAYAH 10:3])
you did not recognize the day when God’s Anointed One visited you
That visitation was prophesied by Zacharias, as he named his son, John.
Who was also called John the Baptist.
For his son was to prepare the way for the LORD.
Let these verses tell you more:
Luke 1:67-79
King James Version
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost,
and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,
which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us,
that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him,
all the days of our life.
76 And thou, child,
shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord
to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people
by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God;
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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