And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
Parallel translations
- WEB For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’
- BSB For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.
- NKJV For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
- NASB For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
- NLT You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.
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 cites the saying that one person sows and another reaps. It frames ministry as a partnership across stages.
Overview
This common proverb usually expressed disappointment, but Jesus gives it a positive sense: God uses different people in different seasons of His harvest. It reminds disciples that they build on the labor of others, and others will build on theirs. The kingdom advances through cooperative, God-directed work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Mic 6:15Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
- Job 31:8Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
- Judg 6:3And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
- Luke 19:21For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
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 4:37 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.