Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.
- BSB Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
- NKJV Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
- NASB Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
- NLT Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.
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
It is presumptuous to condemn another's servant, for that servant answers to his own Master, the Lord. And God is able to uphold him so that he will stand.
Overview
Paul uses the image of household servants: a fellow believer is not our servant but Christ's, accountable to Him. To pass condemning judgment usurps the Master's place. The confidence is gracious: the Lord Himself has power to make His servant stand, so the weak believer's perseverance rests on God's keeping power, not on the approval of others.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Jas 4:11–12Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
- Rom 9:20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
- Rom 8:31–39What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
- Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
- 1 Cor 4:4–5For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
- John 10:28–30And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
- Ps 37:24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
- Rom 14:3Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
- 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.
- Rom 16:25Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
- Isa 40:29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
- Ps 17:5Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
- Deut 33:27–29The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
- Ps 37:17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
- Acts 11:17Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
- 1 Pet 1:5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
- Ps 119:116–117Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
- Rom 11:23And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
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
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 14:4 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.