LUKE 11:13 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Therefore, if you being evil know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to the ones asking him?”

UST Even though you people are sinful, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. So it is even more certain that your Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

BSB So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more {will} [your] Father in heaven give [the] Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

MSB So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more {will} [your] Father in heaven give [the] Holy Spirit[fn] to those who ask Him!”

BLB Therefore if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!"

AICNT If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will {the}[fn] Father [who is][fn] in heaven give the {Holy Spirit}[fn][fn] to those who ask him!”

11:13, the: Some manuscripts read “your.” BYZ TR

11:13, who is: Absent from some manuscripts. 𝔓75 ℵ(01)

11:13, Holy Spirit: Some manuscripts read “Good Spirit.” 𝔓45 ‖ Other manuscripts read “Good gift.” D(05) ‖ See footnote for Luke 1:15 for the BDAG definition of spirit.

11:13, Spirit: See footnote for Luke 1:15.

OEB If you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

WEBBE If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(10-13)“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?”

NET If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

LSV If, then, you, being evil, have known to be giving good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!”

FBV So if you, even though you are evil, still know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

TCNT If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give [fn]the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

11:13 the Holy Spirit ¦ a good spirit ANT

T4T Even though you people are evil, you know how to give good things to your children. So your Father in heaven will certainly give good things to those who ask him, including giving the Holy Spirit, who is the best gift.”

LEB Therefore if you, although you[fn] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

11:13 *Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are”) which is understood as concessive

BBE If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?

Moff Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good,
⇔ how much more will your Father give the holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him?"

Wymth If you then, with all your human frailty, know how to give your children gifts that are good for them, how much more certainly will your Father who is in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

ASV If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

DRA If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?

YLT If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!'

Drby If therefore ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give [the] Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

RV If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
(If ye/you_all then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? )

SLT If then ye, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children; how much more the Father, he from heaven, will give the Holy Spirit to them asking him?

Wbstr If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

KJB-1769 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
( If ye/you_all then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? )

KJB-1611 If ye then, being euill, know how to giue good gifts vnto your children: how much more shall your heauenly Father giue the holy Spirit to them that aske him?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps If ye then, being euyll, can geue good gyftes vnto your chyldren, howe muche more shall your father of heauen geue the holy spirite, to them that desire it of hym.
(If ye/you_all then, being evil, can give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father of heaven give the holy spirit, to them that desire it of him.)

Gnva If yee then which are euill, can giue good giftes vnto your children, howe much more shall your heauenly Father giue the holy Ghost to them, that desire him?
(If ye/you_all then which are evil, can give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Ghost to them, that desire him? )

Cvdl Yf ye then which are euell, can geue youre children good giftes, how moch more shal the father of heauen geue the holy sprete vnto them that axe him?
(If ye/you_all then which are evil, can give your(pl) children good gifts, how much more shall the father of heaven give the holy spirit unto them that axe him?)

TNT Yf ye then which are evyll canne geve good giftes vnto youre chyldren how moche more shall the father of heaven geve an holy sprete to them that desyre it of him?
(If ye/you_all then which are evil canne give good gifts unto your(pl) children how much more shall the father of heaven give an holy spirit to them that desire it of him? )

Wycl Therfor if ye, whanne ye ben yuel, kunnen yyue good yiftis to youre children, hou myche more youre fadir of heuene schal yyue a good spirit to men that axith him.
(Therefore if ye/you_all, when ye/you_all been evil, kunnen give good gifts to your(pl) children, how much more your(pl) father of heaven shall give a good spirit to men that axith him.)

Luth So denn ihr, die ihr arg seid, könnet euren Kindern gute Gaben geben, wieviel mehr wird der Vater im Himmel den Heiligen Geist geben denen, die ihn bitten!
(So because/than you(pl)/their/her, the you(pl)/their/her arg are, could your(s)(pl) children good gifts give, how_much more becomes the/of_the father in_the heaven the saints/holy_ones spirit give those, the him/it ask!)

ClVg Si ergo vos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris: quanto magis Pater vester de cælo dabit spiritum bonum petentibus se?[fn]
(When/But_if therefore you(pl), when/with thirsts evil, you_knows good(s) data dare to_the_children yours: how_much more Pater your from/about the_sky will_give spirit good petentibus himself? )

11.13 Quanto magis. Aperta comparatio. Si enim homo peccator adhuc fragili carne gravatus, petentibus filiis temporalia dare non abnegat, multo magis Pater cœlestis filiis suo timore et amore præditis, non deficientia bona largitur in cœlis.

11.13 How_much more. Aperta comparison. When/But_if because human sinner still fragili flesh/meat burdened, petentibus to_the_children temporal_(things) dare not/no abnegat, much more Pater heavenly to_the_children his_own with_fear and with_love beforeditis, not/no deficientia good(s) largitur in/into/on heavens.

UGNT εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὑπάρχοντες, οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, δώσει Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν?
(ei oun humeis ponaʸroi huparⱪontes, oidate domata agatha didonai tois teknois humōn, posōi mallon ho Pataʸr ho ex ouranou, dōsei Pneuma Hagion tois aitousin auton?)

SBL-GNT εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὑπάρχοντες οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἅγιον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν.
(ei oun humeis ponaʸroi huparⱪontes oidate domata agatha didonai tois teknois humōn, posōi mallon ho pataʸr ho ex ouranou dōsei pneuma hagion tois aitousin auton.)

RP-GNT Εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὑπάρχοντες οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἅγιον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν;
(Ei oun humeis ponaʸroi huparⱪontes oidate domata agatha didonai tois teknois humōn, posōi mallon ho pataʸr ho ex ouranou dōsei pneuma hagion tois aitousin auton;)

TC-GNT Εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς [fn]πονηροὶ ὑπάρχοντες οἴδατε [fn]δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει Πνεῦμα [fn]Ἅγιον τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν;
(Ei oun humeis ponaʸroi huparⱪontes oidate domata agatha didonai tois teknois humōn, posōi mallon ho pataʸr ho ex ouranou dōsei Pneuma Hagion tois aitousin auton; )

11:13 πονηροι υπαρχοντες ¦ υπαρχοντες πονηροι ANT

11:13 δοματα αγαθα ¦ αγαθα δοματα TR

11:13 αγιον ¦ αγαθον ANT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:1–13: Jesus taught his disciples about prayer

There are four paragraphs in this section. In each paragraph, Jesus taught his disciples something about prayer.

Some other headings for this section are:

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer (NIV)

Jesus Teaches About Prayer (NCV)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 6:9–13 and 7:7–11.

Paragraph 11:11–13

In the preceding paragraph Jesus encouraged his disciples to ask God for things. He assured them that God would answer their requests. In this paragraph 11:11–13 Jesus illustrated the truth of what he had just said by giving two examples. Both examples showed that a human father would never give his son something harmful if the son asked for something good to eat. He then concluded by stating that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. See the note on 11:13 for more information about this conclusion.

11:13

In the Greek, as in the BSB, this verse is one long and complicated sentence. It includes several steps in a logical argument with one main conclusion:

People are evil.
However, people know how to give good gifts to their children.
(Implied) God is good.
Therefore, God most certainly knows how to give good gifts to his children.

Consider how people make this type of argument in your culture.

11:13a

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children,

Therefore, if/since you^(plur) evil/bad people know how to give good things to your children,
Even though you^(plur) are wicked people, you know to give good gifts to your children when they ask you for something.
You^(plur) know to give good gifts to your children even though you are evil/sinful.

So: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as So is a logical connector. It introduces the conclusion to this paragraph. Some other ways to introduce this conclusion are:

then (NIV)

Therefore

If you make 11:13a a separate sentence (see General Comment on 11:13a below), it is possible to place this conjunction in 11:13b. For example:

^13aEven though you’re evil, you know how to give good things to your children. ^13bSo how much more… (GW)

In other languages, a specific conjunction may not be necessary to introduce this verse as a conclusion. For example:

As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children… (CEV)

if you…know how to give good gifts to your children: This phrase is literally “If you…know to give good gifts to your children.” The BSB has added the word how to make it natural English.

This conditional (“if”) clause implies that the people knew how to give good gifts to their children, and, in fact, gave them good gifts regularly. There is no doubt about this. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Translate the “If” as “Because.” For example:
Because you know to give good gifts to your children
Translate the clause without a word like “if.” For example:
you know how to give good things to your children (GNT)

Translate this clause in a way that is most natural in your language.

who are evil: The clause who are evil means “in spite of the fact that you are evil.” Jesus was not condemning his disciples here. He was simply stating that all people are sinful. Another way to translate this is:

Even though you are bad… (NCV)

evil: The word that the BSB translates as evil also means “bad,” “sinful,” or “wicked.”

General Comment on 11:13a

In some languages it may be helpful to make this into a separate sentence. For example:

As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. (GNT)

Some other ways to translate this are:

If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children… (NLT96)

You are sinful, but you know how to give good things to your children.

11:13b

how much more will your Father in heaven

you^(plur) can be absolutely sure that your^(plur) Father in heaven
So what about your^(plur) heavenly Father God? He is even more willing to
Your^(plur) Father in heaven is good. So he knows more than you how

how much more will your Father in heaven: Here a contrast is made between the nature of man and the nature of God: man is sinful and (it is implied that) God is good. The first part of the contrast (that man is sinful) was stated explicitly in 11:13a. If it is necessary to make the second half of the contrast explicit in your language, you may say:

how much more will your Father in heaven who is good…

But your heavenly father is good. It is even more certain that…

how much more: The phrase how much more compares two things. It compares God’s willingness/readiness and man’s willingness to give good gifts. (The comparison is not between the sizes of the gifts.) If man gives good gifts, God will even more certainly give good gifts.

Some other ways to translate this are:

But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. (CEV)

What about your heavenly Father? He is even more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

It is absolutely certain that your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

your Father in heaven: The phrase your Father in heaven refers to God. Here heaven refers to the place where God lives.

See heaven, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

11:13c

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

will give the Holy Spirit to the people who ask him!”
give/send the Holy Spirit to people who ask him for his Spirit!”
to give good gifts. He will give/send the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him: This means that God will give the best of all gifts to those who ask him. He will give them his own Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the best gift because God gives everything that is good through his Spirit.

give the Holy Spirit: Since the Holy Spirit is a being and not a thing, in some languages it may be better to use a verb such as “send” instead of give.

Holy Spirit: The term Holy Spirit also occurs in 10:21a. See the note there for information about translating this term.