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Luke 18:1–5

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ralways to pray and not slose heart. He said, In a certain city there was a judge who tneither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, uThough I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ”

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Luke 18:1–5 — The New International Version (NIV)

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

Luke 18:1–5 — New Living Translation (NLT)

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — New Century Version (NCV)

Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. In a certain town there was a judge who did not respect God or care about people. In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me my rights against my enemy.’ For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about people, I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.

Luke 18:1–5 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And he spoke also a parable to them to the purport that they should always pray and not faint, saying, There was a judge in a city, not fearing God and not respecting man: and there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adverse party. And he would not for a time; but afterwards he said within himself, If even I fear not God and respect not man, at any rate because this widow annoys me I will avenge her, that she may not by perpetually coming completely harass me.

Luke 18:1–5 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Jesus used this illustration with his disciples to show them that they need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, “In a city there was a judge who didn’t fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice.’ 

“For a while the judge refused to do anything. But then he thought, ‘This widow really annoys me. Although I don’t fear God or respect people, I’ll have to give her justice. Otherwise, she’ll keep coming to me until she wears me out.’ ” 

Luke 18:1–5 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged: There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect man. And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And he told them a parable to show that they must always pray and not be discouraged, saying, “There was a certain judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not respect people. And there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary!’ And he was not willing for a time, but after these things he said to himself, ‘Even if I do not fear God or respect people, yet because this widow is causing trouble for me, I will grant her justice, so that she does not wear me down in the end by her coming back!’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Jesus told his disciples a story. He wanted to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, “In a certain town there was a judge. He didn’t have any respect for God or care about people. A widow lived in that town. She came to the judge again and again. She kept begging him, ‘Make things right for me. Someone is doing me wrong.’

“For some time the judge refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t have any respect for God. I don’t care about people. But this widow keeps bothering me. So I will see that things are made right for her. If I don’t, she will wear me out by coming again and again!’ ”

Luke 18:1–5 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,

saying, In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.

There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’

For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,

yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ”


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