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Luke 17:5–10

5 aThe apostles said to bthe Lord, “Increase our faith!”

6 And athe Lord said, If you 1had faith like ba mustard seed, you would say to this cmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would 2obey you.

7 Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and 1sit down to eat’?

8 But will he not say to him, ‘aPrepare something for me to eat, and properly 1clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and 2afterward you 3may eat and drink’?

9 He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?

10 So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say,We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’ ”

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Luke 17:5–10 — The New International Version (NIV)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

He replied, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

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? 10 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.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — English Standard Version (ESV)

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

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? 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.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 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. 10 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.

Luke 17:5–10 — New Living Translation (NLT)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

The Lord answered, If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

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. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say,We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — New Century Version (NCV)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

The Lord said, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Suppose one of you has a servant who has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When the servant comes in from working in the field, would you say, ‘Come in and sit down to eat’? No, you would say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get yourself ready and serve me. After I finish eating and drinking, you can eat.’ The servant does not get any special thanks for doing what his master commanded. 10 It is the same with you. When you have done everything you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done the work we should do.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it would obey you. But who is there of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway 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 the servant because he did the things that were commanded? 10 Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.

Luke 17:5–10 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the apostles said to the Lord, Give more faith to us. But the Lord said, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye had said to this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea, and it would have obeyed you. But which of you is there who, having a bondman ploughing or shepherding, when he comes in out of the field, will say, Come and lie down immediately to table? But will he not say to him, Prepare what I shall sup on, and gird thyself and serve me that I may eat and drink; and after that thou shalt eat and drink? Is he thankful to the bondman because he has done what was ordered? I judge not. 10 Thus ye also, when ye shall have done all things that have been ordered you, say, We are unprofitable bondmen; we have done what it was our duty to do.

Luke 17:5–10 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Then the apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith.” 

The Lord said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself up by the roots, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you. 

“Suppose someone has a servant who is plowing fields or watching sheep. Does he tell his servant when he comes from the field, ‘Have something to eat’? No. Instead, he tells his servant, ‘Get dinner ready for me! After you serve me my dinner, you can eat yours.’ He doesn’t thank the servant for following orders. 10 That’s the way it is with you. When you’ve done everything you’re ordered to do, say, ‘We’re worthless servants. We’ve only done our duty.’ ” 

Luke 17:5–10 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” 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, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’? Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded? 10 In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say,We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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 who comes in from the field will say to him, ‘Come here at once and 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 to the slave because he did what was ordered, will he? 10 Thus you also, when you have done all the things you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.’ ”

Luke 17:5–10 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

He replied, “Suppose you have faith as small as a mustard seed. Then you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up. Be planted in the sea.’ And it will obey you.

“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. And suppose the servant came in from the field. Would you say to him, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? No. Instead, you would say, ‘Prepare my supper. Get yourself ready. Wait on me while I eat and drink. Then after that you can eat and drink.’ Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

10 “It’s the same with you. Suppose you have done everything you were told to do. Then you should say, ‘We are not worthy to serve you. We have only done our duty.’ ”


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