And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
- BSB “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
- NKJV And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
- NASB And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
- NLT “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
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 affirms the lawyer's answer and says perfect obedience to it brings life. The very perfection required exposes humanity's need for grace.
Overview
Jesus agrees that the law rightly answered promises life: 'Do this, and you will live.' But the call to flawless, lifelong love sets a standard no sinner meets. The verse functions to humble self-confidence and prepare the heart to seek the righteousness God provides in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 20:11And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
- Lev 18:5Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
- Matt 19:17And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
- Neh 9:29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
- Ezek 20:21Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- Luke 7:43Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
- Ezek 20:13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
- Gal 3:12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
- Rom 10:4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
- Mark 12:34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
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
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 10:28 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.