Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny.
Parallel translations
- KJV Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
- BSB Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
- NKJV Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
- NASB Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last quadrans.
- NLT And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.
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
You will not get out until you have paid the last penny. It underscores the seriousness and full cost of unresolved offense.
Overview
Closing the courtroom illustration, Jesus warns that the consequences of failing to reconcile can be inescapable and complete. The vivid image of full payment reinforces the urgency of His teaching. It also evokes the dreadful reality of judgment, from which only Christ's payment can deliver us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 18:34His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him.
- Luke 12:59I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny. ”
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- 2 Th 1:9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
- Matt 25:41Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
- Matt 25:46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Luke 16:26Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 5:26 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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