So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’”
- KJV So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
- NKJV So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”
- NASB So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’ ”
- NLT In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
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
Disciples are to say, even after full obedience, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' Humility, not merit, marks true service.
Overview
Jesus drives home that obedience earns no claim on God; we remain humble, unprofitable servants. This guards against self-righteousness and pride. It points to the gospel truth that we are accepted not by our works but by God's grace in Christ, even as we gladly serve Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Cor 9:16–17Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- Job 22:2–3“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
- 1 Pet 5:5–6Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Cor 15:9–10For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- Job 35:6–7If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?
- Rom 11:35“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?”
- Isa 64:6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Prov 16:2–3All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.
- 1 Chr 29:14–16But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
- Rom 3:12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
- Phil 3:8–9More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Matt 25:37–40Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
- Isa 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- Matt 25:30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Ps 16:2–3I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”
- Ps 35:6–7May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
- Phlm 1:11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 17:10 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.