Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
Parallel translations
- WEB Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
- KJV And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
- NKJV And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
- NASB And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold.
- NLT Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
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
As lawlessness increases, the love of many will grow cold. It warns that widespread sin can chill genuine love among people.
Overview
Jesus foresees that mounting wickedness will cause the love of many to wane. Where sin abounds, devotion to God and neighbor can wither. This is a call to vigilance over one's own heart, that love for Christ and others would not be quenched by the surrounding moral decay.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Rev 2:4–5But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
- Jas 4:1–4What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Rev 3:15I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other!
- Rev 2:10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Jas 5:1–6Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 24:12 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.