Faith and Duty

The(A) apostles(B) said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”(C)

“If you have faith the size of[a] a mustard seed,”(D) the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

“Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?(E) Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?[b] 10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy (F) servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 17:6 Lit faith like
  2. 17:9 Other mss add I don’t think so

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner’? Wouldn’t you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink’? You won’t thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you? 10 In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.’”

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