Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
- KJV Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
- NKJV Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
- NASB And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span?
- NLT Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
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
Worrying cannot add a single moment to your life. Anxiety is as futile as it is faithless.
Overview
With a pointed question, Jesus exposes the powerlessness of worry: it cannot extend life by even a moment (or, by some readings, add to one's stature). Anxiety achieves nothing and only displaces trust in God. The verse strips away any pretense that worry is productive, calling disciples instead to rest in the Father's sovereign care.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 12:25–26Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
- Eccl 3:14I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
- Ps 39:5–6You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Matt 5:36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
- 1 Cor 12:18But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design.
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 6:27 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
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