“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.
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:
- BSB Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.
- 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;
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 sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”
- Matt 25:24“He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter.
- Jas 4:17To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
- Luke 6:46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?
- Luke 3:9Even now the ax also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.”
- Luke 19:13He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’
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.