For each man will bear his own burden.
Parallel translations
- KJV For every man shall bear his own burden.
- BSB For each one should carry his own load.
- NKJV For each one shall bear his own load.
- NASB For each one will bear his own load.
- NLT For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
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
Each person will bear his own load of responsibility before God. While we help carry others' burdens, we each remain accountable for our own life.
Overview
Paul speaks here of the personal accountability every believer has before God, a different word from the shared 'burdens' of verse 2. There is no contradiction: Christians help one another with life's crushing weights, yet each must answer for his own faithfulness. The verse promotes both mutual care and individual responsibility before the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 32:19great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
- Rom 14:10–12But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- 2 Cor 5:10–11For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
- Rev 2:23I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
- Rom 2:6–9who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- Matt 16:27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
- 1 Cor 3:8Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
- Rev 20:12–15I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Ezek 18:4Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Jer 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
- Rev 22:12“Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 6:5 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.