The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Parallel translations
- WEB The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
- KJV And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
- NKJV And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
- NASB The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
- NLT The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
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
The apostles, sensing the difficulty of such forgiveness, ask the Lord to increase their faith.
Overview
Confronted with the demanding call to repeated forgiveness, the apostles recognize their need for greater faith. Their request is humble and right. Jesus' reply will redirect them from the quantity of faith to its true object and power, found in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mark 9:24Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
- Heb 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- 2 Cor 12:8–10Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
- 2 Th 1:3We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.
- Mark 6:30Meanwhile, the apostles gathered around Jesus and brought Him news of all they had done and taught.
- Luke 7:13When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”
- 1 Pet 1:22–23Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
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 17:5 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.