And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat,
- KJV And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
- BSB Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
- NASB “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat;
- NLT “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
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
Jesus warns Simon that Satan has demanded to sift all the disciples like wheat. It exposes the real spiritual danger they face.
Overview
Jesus reveals that Satan seeks to test and scatter the disciples, with Peter especially in view. The image of sifting wheat depicts a violent trial meant to destroy faith. Yet the warning comes with the assurance of Jesus' watchful care, framing the coming failure within God's purpose to strengthen His own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Zech 3:1He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
- Job 1:6–12Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them.
- Job 2:1–6Again, on the day when the God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.
- Rev 12:10I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
- Amos 9:9“For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.
- Luke 10:41Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
- Acts 9:4He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute 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 22:31 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.