Limitless Word
Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
1 Peter 4:9 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
  • BSB Show hospitality to one another without complaining.
  • NKJV Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
  • NASB Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
  • NLT Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

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

Believers should welcome one another with hospitality and without complaining. It applies practical love to the everyday sharing of homes and resources.

Overview

Hospitality was vital in the early church, where traveling believers and gatherings depended on open homes. Peter adds 'without grumbling,' guarding against a generosity that is grudging or resentful. Cheerful hospitality is a concrete outworking of the love commanded in verse 8.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Heb 13:2Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
  • Rom 12:13Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
  • Phil 2:14Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
  • Heb 13:16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
  • 1 Tim 3:2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
  • 2 Cor 9:7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
  • Titus 1:8But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
  • Jas 5:9Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
  • Phlm 1:14But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.
  • Rom 16:23Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 4:9YouTube · 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 4:9 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.