Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
Parallel translations
- WEB Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you;’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?’
- KJV Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
- BSB Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’
- NKJV Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?
- NLT Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’?
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 asks which is easier: to declare sins forgiven or to command healing. He prepares to prove the unseen by the seen.
Overview
Pronouncing forgiveness is easy to say because it cannot be visibly verified, while commanding a paralytic to walk invites immediate testing. Jesus poses the question to show that the visible miracle will authenticate his invisible authority to forgive. The logic confronts the leaders with evidence they cannot dismiss.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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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 5:23 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.