And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
- KJV And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt 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.”
- 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 20:11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
- Lev 18:5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Yahweh.
- Matt 19:17He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
- Neh 9:29and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
- Ezek 20:21“‘“But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Luke 7:43Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.” He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
- Ezek 20:13“‘“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
- Gal 3:12The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
- Rom 10:4For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
- Mark 12:34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.” No one dared ask him any question after that.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.