Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.
Parallel translations
- WEB Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,
- KJV And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
- NKJV “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.
- NASB And then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief;
- NLT “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.
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
Another servant returns the mina he had merely hidden away, having done nothing with it. Neglect of the Master's trust is itself a failure.
Overview
Unlike the others, this servant produced nothing, having stored the money away in a cloth. His inaction reveals a heart that did not truly know or love his master. The parable warns against treating what God entrusts to us with neglect and presumption.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 26:13–16The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
- Matt 25:24Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
- Jas 4:17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- Luke 6:46Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
- Luke 3:9The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
- Luke 19:13Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.
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 19:20 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.