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

11Therefore, if you can’t be trusted with wealth that is often used dishonestly, who will trust you with wealth that is real? 12If you can’t be trusted with someone else’s wealth, who will give you your own? “A servant cannot serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.” 14The Pharisees, who love money, heard all this and were making sarcastic remarks about him. 15So Jesus said to them, “You try to justify your actions in front of people. But God knows what’s in your hearts. What is important to humans is disgusting to God.

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 9:50Jesus said to him, “Don’t stop him! Whoever isn’t against you is for you.”
• Luke 11:23“Whoever isn’t with me is against me. Whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.
• Joshua 24:15But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Even if you choose the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, my family and I will still serve the Lord.”
• Matthew 4:10Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”
• Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.
• Romans 6:16Don’t you know that if you offer to be someone’s slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God’s approval.
• Romans 8:5Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature’s attitude. But those who live by the spiritual nature have the spiritual nature’s attitude.
• James 4:4You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this ⌞evil⌟ world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
• 1 John 2:15Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them.
• Luke 14:26“If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be 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