And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Parallel translations
- WEB But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.
- BSB But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
- NKJV And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
- NASB But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
- NLT But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.
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
Though a new era has come, not the smallest detail of God's law will fail. The law retains its authority.
Overview
Jesus guards against thinking the kingdom abolishes the law. Heaven and earth will pass before the least stroke of it falls; it is fulfilled, not discarded, in Christ. This affirms the enduring validity of God's moral standards, which Jesus upholds and perfectly satisfies.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 5:18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
- Luke 21:33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
- 1 Pet 1:25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
- Rom 3:31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
- Isa 40:8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
- Isa 51:6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
- Ps 102:25–27Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
- Rev 21:1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
- Rev 21:4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
- Rev 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:17 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.