And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
Parallel translations
- WEB If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
- KJV And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
- BSB If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
- NKJV And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
- NLT And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!
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
Doing good only to those who do good to you is unremarkable, for even sinners practice such reciprocity. True goodness extends beyond those who repay it.
Overview
Jesus continues to dismantle the idea that ordinary, self-serving kindness fulfills God's will. Returning good for good is common even among the ungodly. The disciple is called to a goodness that reflects the Father's character, freely benefiting even the undeserving, as God does in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
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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 6:33 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
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