For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”
- KJV For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
- BSB The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.”
- NKJV For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
- NLT You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
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
Jesus notes that the poor are always present, but he is not. Devotion to him in this unique moment is fitting.
Overview
Jesus' words affirm ongoing care for the poor while underscoring the singular importance of honoring him before his death. He does not dismiss charity but highlights the unrepeatable occasion of his earthly presence. The statement vindicates Mary's worship as rightly timed and rightly placed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 15:11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
- Mark 14:7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me.
- Matt 26:11For you always have the poor with you; but you don’t always have me.
- John 12:35Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.
- John 13:33Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.
- John 8:21Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
- John 16:5–7But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
- Acts 1:9–11When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
- Song 5:6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left; and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 12:8 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.