^12:4“I¹² tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body,¹³ and after that have nothing more they can do. ^12:5But I will warn¹⁴ you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing,¹⁵ has authority to throw you¹⁶ into hell.¹⁷ Yes, I tell you, fear him! ^12:6Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies?¹⁸ Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

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Luke 12:6: Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Footnotes

12 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
13 Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14–15.
14 Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.
15 The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so , ) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.
16 The direct object (“you”) is understood.
17 The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5–6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).
18 The pennies refer to the assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear! Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

“What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“And I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after these things do not have anything more to do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear the one who has authority, after the killing, to throw you into hell! Yes, I tell you, fear this one! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God.

KJV 1900King James Version

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

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