And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
- BSB Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
- NKJV But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
- NASB Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
- NLT Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
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 says salvation is impossible for people but possible with God, for whom all things are possible. Salvation is entirely a work of God's grace.
Overview
This is the heart of the passage and of the gospel: no one saves himself, but God can save anyone. Human inability gives way to divine power and grace. The verse anchors Christian hope not in human effort or worthiness but in the saving might of God, who alone makes the impossible possible.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 32:27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
- Matt 19:26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
- Job 42:2I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
- Jer 32:17Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
- Gen 18:13–14And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
- Luke 1:37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
- Luke 18:27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
- Num 11:21–23And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
- Heb 11:19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
- Phil 3:21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
- 2 Kgs 7:2Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
- Zech 8:6Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
- Heb 7:25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 10:27 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.