Luke 9:24

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me, that one will save it.”

Luke 9:24 · direct translation from the Greek
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24

Luke 9:24, word by word

wantsθέλῃthelēi

want

To have the desire or the resolve for something.

Where else “thelēi” appears
to saveσῶσαιsōsai

rescue

To rescue from danger or death.

Where else “sōsai” appears
his lifeψυχὴνpsychēn

life

Literally "soul": one's being alive, which can be saved, lost or given.

Where else “psychēn” appears
will loseἀπολέσειapolesei

lose

To be left without something or someone one had.

Where else “apolesei” appears
for the sake ofἕνεκενheneken

because of

On account of, for the sake of.

Where else “heneken” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Take up your cross

Matthew 16:24-28Mark 8:34–9:1

See them side by side

Luke 9:23-27

23And he was saying to all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me, that one will save it. 25For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 16:24-28

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it. 26For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct. 28Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Mark 8:34–9:1

8:34And summoning the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 8:35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me and the good news will save it. 8:36For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 8:37For what can a person give in exchange for his life? 8:38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9:1And he was saying to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”

The context

23And he was saying to all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

24 · This verse (above)

25For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

Read all of Luke 9

To study Luke 9 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”, what do the crowds say, and what does Peter answer? (vv. 18-20)

  2. 2. What it means

    Jesus says anyone who wants to follow him must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. What reason does he give? (vv. 23-25)

  3. 3. How I live it

    The disciples argued about who was greatest, and Jesus stood a child beside him (vv. 46-48). Whom could you give more attention to today?

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