Limitless Word
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:11 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  • BSB If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
  • NKJV If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  • NASB Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking actual words of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  • NLT Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Whether speaking or serving, believers should do so by God's own words and strength, so that God is glorified through Jesus Christ. It directs every act of ministry toward God's glory.

Overview

Peter divides gifts into speaking and serving, calling each to be exercised in dependence on God: speaking as conveying God's word, serving by God's supplied strength. The purpose of all ministry is that 'God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.' The verse closes with a doxology, ascribing eternal glory and dominion to God through Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 37

  • 1 Cor 10:31Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
  • Eph 6:10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
  • 1 Pet 4:10As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
  • Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
  • Col 4:6Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
  • Acts 7:38This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
  • Jas 3:1–6My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
  • 1 Cor 12:4Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
  • Rom 3:2Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
  • 1 Pet 2:5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
  • Rev 5:12–14Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
  • Rom 12:6–8Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
  • Eph 3:20–21Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
  • Jas 1:19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
  • Heb 5:12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
  • Rev 1:5–6And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
  • Jude 1:25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
  • 1 Tim 1:17Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
  • 1 Chr 29:11–16Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
  • 1 Tim 6:16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
  • Matt 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
  • Dan 4:34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
  • Dan 7:14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
  • Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
  • Eph 5:20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
  • 1 Pet 5:11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
  • Dan 4:3How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
  • Phil 2:11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
  • Ps 145:13Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
  • Jas 1:26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
  • Rom 11:36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
  • 1 Cor 6:20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
  • Jer 23:22But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
  • 1 Cor 3:10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
  • Rom 16:27To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
  • Phil 1:11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
  • 2 Cor 9:13Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Peter videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Peter 4:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 PeterMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The lamb without blemish foreknown before the world, who bore our sins in his body on the tree, by whose wounds we are healed — the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

How 1 Peter 4:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.