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Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus.
Luke 5:18 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
  • BSB Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,
  • NKJV Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.
  • NASB And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.
  • NLT Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus,

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

Men carry a paralyzed friend, seeking to bring him to Jesus. Their determined love drives them to seek healing for him.

Overview

The paralyzed man cannot come on his own, so others bear him on a cot. Their effort reflects compassion and confidence that Jesus can help. This cooperative faith, soon obstructed by the crowd, becomes the occasion for one of Jesus' clearest declarations of his authority to forgive sins.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Mark 2:3–12Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him.
  • Matt 9:2–8Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
  • John 5:5–6A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
  • Acts 9:33There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 5:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 5:18 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.