⁷“And which of you who has a slave plowing or shepherding sheep^* who comes in from the field will say to him, ‘Come here at once and^* recline at the table’? ⁸Will 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.’ ⁹He will not be grateful^b to the slave because he did what was ordered, will he?^* ¹⁰Thus you also, when you have done all the things you were ordered to do,^c say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.’ ”

Read in Logos

Luke 17:10: “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‛We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Footnotes

*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come here”) has been translated as a finite verb
bLiterally “have gratitude”
*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “will he”
cLiterally “things that were ordered to you”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“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’? Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’ ”

NLTNew Living Translation

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’ ”

KJV 1900King James Version

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

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