Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”
- KJV Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
- NKJV Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
- NASB Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
- NLT Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
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
Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, and on whomever it falls it will crush. Christ is both salvation and judgment, depending on one's response.
Overview
Drawing on imagery from Isaiah 8 and Daniel 2, Jesus warns that the cornerstone is also a stone of judgment. To stumble over Christ in unbelief brings ruin, and to remain his enemy brings final destruction. The verse presses the urgency of receiving rather than rejecting the Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 8:14–15And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
- Dan 2:34–35As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
- Dan 2:44–45In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Matt 21:44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
- Zech 12:3On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
- Matt 21:34When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.
- 1 Th 2:16hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 20:18 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.