But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
- BSB But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
- NKJV But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
- NASB But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people.
- NLT “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.
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 commands love for enemies, doing good and lending without expecting return, promising a great reward and the dignity of being God's children. We imitate the Father, who is kind even to the ungrateful and evil.
Overview
This verse gathers the preceding commands into a single call to enemy-love rooted in the very character of God. The promised reward is not earned merit but the gracious gift of those who bear the family likeness of the Most High. By His kindness to the unthankful, God shows the grace that culminates in the cross, where He loved His enemies and reconciled them to Himself (Romans 5:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Matt 5:44–45But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
- John 13:35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
- Prov 19:17He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
- Rom 5:8–10But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- Ps 145:9The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
- 2 Cor 8:9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
- Prov 22:9He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
- Ps 112:5A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
- Lev 25:35–37And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
- 1 Jn 4:7–11Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
- Ps 37:26He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
- John 15:8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
- 1 Jn 3:10–14In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
- Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
- Luke 1:32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
- Luke 6:27–31But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
- Mark 5:7And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
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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 6:35 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.