Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
- KJV And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
- NKJV And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
- NASB Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together.
- NLT The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!
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
Both sower and reaper share in the joy of gathering people into eternal life. Gospel work is a shared, rejoicing labor.
Overview
Jesus describes evangelism as a harvest yielding 'fruit to eternal life,' with reward for faithful workers. Sower and reaper rejoice together, showing that God's saving work involves many laborers cooperating across time. The verse dignifies every part in the spread of the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jas 5:19–20My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
- 1 Cor 3:5–9What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.
- Rom 1:13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
- Prov 11:30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- 2 Tim 4:7–8I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- Dan 12:3Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
- Rom 6:22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.
- Phil 2:15–16so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- 1 Cor 9:19–23Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- 1 Tim 4:16Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
- 1 Th 2:19After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:36 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.