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18 A certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one: God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Don’t commit adultery,’ ‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t give false testimony,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20

21 He said, “I have observed all these things from my youth up.”

22 When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was very rich.

24 Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! 25 For it is easier for a camel to enter in through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”

26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”

27 But he said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

28 Peter said, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

29 He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for God’s Kingdom’s sake, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.”

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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