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 slave 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,[b] and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?(E) Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded?[c] 10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing(F) slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:6 Lit faith like
  2. Luke 17:8 Or eat, gird yourself; lit eat, tuck in your robe
  3. Luke 17:9 Other mss add I don’t think so

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” So the Lord said, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“And which of you who has a slave plowing or shepherding sheep[a] who comes in from the field will say to him, ‘Come here at once and[b] recline at the table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something that I may eat, and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and after these things you will eat and drink.’ He will not be grateful[c] to the slave because he did what was ordered, will he?[d] 10 Thus you also, when you have done all the things you were ordered to do,[e] say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:7 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  2. Luke 17:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come here”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Luke 17:9 Literally “have gratitude”
  4. Luke 17:9 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “will he
  5. Luke 17:10 Literally “things that were ordered to you”