The Rich Young Ruler

18 A(A) ruler(B) asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (C)

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.[a](D)

21 “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

22 When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor,(E) and you will have treasure in heaven.(F) Then come, follow me.”(G)

23 After he heard this, he became extremely sad,(H) because he was very rich.

Possessions and the Kingdom

24 Seeing that he became sad,[b] Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” (I)

27 He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”(J)

28 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed(K) you.”

29 So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more at this time,(L) and eternal life in the age to come.”

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Footnotes

  1. 18:20 Ex 20:12–16; Dt 5:16–20
  2. 18:24 Other mss omit he became sad

A Rich Young Man

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, by[a] doing what will I inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”[b] 21 And he said, “All these I have observed from my[c] youth.” 22 And when he[d] heard this,[e] Jesus said to him, “You still lack one thing:[f] Sell all that you have, and distribute the proceeds[g] to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” 23 But when he[h] heard these things he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

24 And Jesus took notice of him[i] and[j] said, “How difficult it is for[k] those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 So those who heard this[l] said, “And who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

28 And Peter said, “Behold, we have left all that is ours[m] and[n] followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children on account of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 18:18 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“doing”) which is understood as means
  2. Luke 18:20 A quotation from Exod 20:12–16; Deut 5:16–20
  3. Luke 18:21 Some manuscripts omit “my”
  4. Luke 18:22 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  5. Luke 18:22 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  6. Luke 18:22 Literally “one still lacking to you”
  7. Luke 18:22 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  8. Luke 18:23 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  9. Luke 18:24 Some manuscripts add “becoming very sad”
  10. Luke 18:24 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took notice of”) has been translated as a finite verb
  11. Luke 18:24 Literally “with difficulty”
  12. Luke 18:26 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  13. Luke 18:28 Literally “our own”
  14. Luke 18:28 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“have left”) has been translated as a finite verb