Luke 16:13

Luke 16:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
• New International Version (NIV)“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
• New King James Version (NKJV)“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Context of Luke 16:13

11So if people cannot trust you with money in this world, nobody will trust you with really valuable things. 12And if people cannot trust you with other people's things, nobody will give you things for yourself. A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other one. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.’ 14The Pharisees heard all this. They loved money very much, so they laughed at Jesus. They said to him, ‘You are wrong.’ 15Jesus replied, ‘You are happy when people like you. You want them to think that you are good people. But God sees inside you. He knows what you are thinking. The things that many people think are valuable are not valuable to God. He hates those things.’

Luke 16:13 word by word

Οὐδεὶς οἰκέτης δύναται δυσὶν κυρίοις δουλεύειν· ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει, ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Noοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• servantοἰκέτηςoiketēs · slaveG3610
• canδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• serveδουλεύωdouleuō · be a slaveG1398
• twoδύοduo · twoG1417
• mastersκύριοςkurios · lord: masterG2962
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• eitherἤē · orG2228
• he will hateμισέωmiseō · to hateG3404
• the oneὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• the otherἕτεροςheteros · otherG2087
• he will hold toἀντέχωantechomai · to cling toG472
• despiseκαταφρονέωkataphroneō · to despiseG2706
• Ye cannotοὐou · noG3756
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• mammonμαμμωνᾶςmammōnas · wealthG3126

Cross-references for Luke 16:13

• Luke 9:50‘Do not try to stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘If someone is not against you, he is working to help you.’
• Luke 11:23If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are making people run away from me.’
• Joshua 24:15But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then you should choose another god to worship. Decide today! Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshipped across the river? Will you serve the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living? You choose! But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.’
• Matthew 4:10Jesus then said to him, ‘Satan, go away from me! The Bible says, “Only worship your Lord God. He is the only one that you should obey”.’
• Matthew 6:24Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.
• Romans 6:16Remember this: When you agree to serve someone as a slave, you have to obey that person as your master. You may choose to serve sin as your master. If you do that, you will die. Or you may choose to obey God. If you do that, you will live in a way that is right.
• Romans 8:5Some people do what their weak human thoughts want them to do. They think about the things that will make themselves happy. But people who live with God's Spirit as their guide think about what will make God's Spirit happy.
• James 4:4You are turning away from God, like a woman who is not faithful to her husband. You choose to be friends with people who are against God. So you yourselves become enemies of God. You should know that!
• 1 John 2:15Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father.
• Luke 14:26‘If someone wants to obey me, he must live like this: He must love me more than he loves his own father and mother. He must love me more than he loves his wife and his children. He must love me more than he loves his brothers and his sisters. He must even love me more than he loves himself. If he does not do that, he cannot be one of my disciples.

Commentaries on Luke 16:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13No servant can serve two masters - The heart will be either wholly taken up with God, or wholly engrossed with the world. See on Matthew 6:24; (note).Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13See the notes at Matthew 6:24.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 To this parable our Lord added a solemn warning. Ye cannot serve God and the world, so divided are the two interests. When our Lord spoke thus, the covetous Pharisees treated his instructions with contempt. But he warned them, that what they contended for as the law, was a wresting of its meaning: this our Lord showed in a case respecting divorce. There are many covetous sticklers for the forms of godliness, who are the bitterest enemies to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13No servant can serve two masters: Complete love and devotion can be given only to one master.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. can serve--be entirely at the command of; and this is true even where the services are not opposed. hate ... love--showing that the two here intended are in uncompromising hostility to each other: an awfully searching principle!Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 16:13

• Consistency
• Decision
• Hypocrisy
• Jesus, the Christ
• Mammon
• Rich, the
• Servant
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Account
• Beg
• Beside
• Cool
• Deride
• Dig
• Fare
• Idolatry

Commentaries on Luke 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings