But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.
- BSB but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
- NKJV But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
- NASB but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
- NLT because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.
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 knows they do not have the love of God within them. Their hostility reveals a heart lacking love for God.
Overview
With divine insight Jesus discerns that, for all their religion, the leaders lack genuine love for God. This inner emptiness is the root of their rejection of him. True love for God will always embrace the Son whom God sent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Jn 4:20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
- John 2:25And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
- Rom 8:7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- 1 Jn 3:17But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
- 1 Jn 2:15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- John 8:47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
- John 8:55Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
- John 21:17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
- Luke 16:15And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
- Rev 2:23And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
- Heb 4:12–13For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
- John 15:23–24He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
- John 5:44How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
- John 1:47–49Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
- John 8:42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 5:42 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.