MAT 19:21 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.)

OET (OET-RV) “If you want to be perfect,” answered Yeshua, “go and sell what you own and give to the poor, and then you’ll have treasure in the heavens. Then come and follow me.”

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 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow me.”

UST Jesus answered, “Since you desire to complete doing what is good, go home and sell what you own. Give that money to poor people. If you do that, God will reward you in heaven. Then, come with me as my apprentice.”

BSB Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

BLB Jesus was saying to him, "If you desire to be perfect, go, sell what you are possessing, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow Me."

AICNT Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to [the][fn] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

19:21, the: Absent from some manuscripts.

OEB ‘If you wish to be perfect,’ answered Jesus, ‘go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.’

WEBBE Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

WMBB Yeshua said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

NET Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

LSV Jesus said to him, “If you will to be perfect, go away, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven, and come, follow Me.”

FBV Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect,[fn] then go and sell your possessions, give the money to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

19:21 “Perfect” here has the idea of something fulfilled or complete.

TCNT Jesus said to him, “If yoʋ wish to be perfect, go sell what yoʋ have and give to the poor, and yoʋ will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.”

T4T Jesus said to him, “If you desire to be all that God intends you to be, go home, sell everything that you have and give the money to poor people. The result will be that you will have spiritual riches in heaven. Then come and be my disciple!”

LEB Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the proceeds[fn] to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.”

19:21 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE Jesus said to him, If you have a desire to be complete, go, get money for your property, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come after me.

Moff Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell your property, give the money to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me."

Wymth "If you desire to be perfect," replied Jesus, "go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; and come, follow me."

ASV Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

DRA Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.

YLT Jesus said to him, 'If thou dost will to be perfect, go away, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'

Drby Jesus said to him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and give to [the] poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

RV Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
(Jesus said unto him, If thou/you wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou/you hast, and give to the poor, and thou/you shalt/shall have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. )

SLT Jesus said to him, If thou wished to be perfected, retire, sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Wbstr Jesus said to him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

KJB-1769 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
(Jesus said unto him, If thou/you wilt/will be perfect, go and sell that thou/you hast, and give to the poor, and thou/you shalt/shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. )

KJB-1611 Iesus said vnto him, If thou wilt be perfect, goe and sell that thou hast, and giue to the poore, and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen: and come and follow me.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps Iesus sayde vnto hym: yf thou wylt be perfect, go & sell that thou hast, and geue to the poore, & thou shalt haue treasure in heauen: and come & folowe me.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva Iesus sayd vnto him, If thou wilt be perfite, go, sell that thou hast, and giue it to the poore, and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen, and come, and follow me.
(Yesus/Yeshua said unto him, If thou/you wilt/will be perfite, go, sell that thou/you hast, and give it to the poor, and thou/you shalt/shall have treasure in heaven, and come, and follow me. )

Cvdl Iesus sayde vnto him: Yf thou wilt be perfecte, go thy waye and sell that thou hast, & geue it vnto the poore, and thou shalt haue a treasure in heauen, and come and folowe me.
(Yesus/Yeshua said unto him: If thou/you wilt/will be perfecte, go thy/your way and sell that thou/you hast, and give it unto the poor, and thou/you shalt/shall have a treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.)

TNT And Iesus sayde vnto him yf thou wylt be perfecte goo and sell that thou hast and geve it to the povre and thou shalt have treasure in heven and come and folowe me.
(And Yesus/Yeshua said unto him if thou/you wilt/will be perfecte go and sell that thou/you hast and give it to the poor and thou/you shalt/shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. )

Wycl Jhesus seith to hym, If thou wolt be perfite, go, and sille alle thingis that thou hast, and yyue to pore men, and thou schalt haue tresoure in heuene; and come, and sue me.
(Yhesus saith/says to him, If thou/you wilt/will be perfite, go, and sille all things that thou/you hast, and give to poor men, and thou/you shalt/shall have treasuree in heaven; and come, and sue me.)

Luth JEsus sprach zu ihm: Willst du vollkommen sein, so gehe hin, verkaufe, was du hast, und gib‘s den Armen, so wirst du einen Schatz im Himmel haben; und komm und folge mir nach.
(Yesus spoke to/for him: Want you(sg) completely/perfectly be, so go there/therefore, selling, what/which you(sg) have, and is_there the poor_(one), so will you(sg) a treasure(n) in_the heaven have; and come and consequence to_me after.)

ClVg Ait illi Jesus: Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende quæ habes, et da pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in cælo: et veni, sequere me.
(He_said them Yesus: When/But_if you_want perfect to_be, go, sell which you_have, and give to_the_poor, and you_will_have treasure in/into/on the_sky: and I_came, follow me. )

UGNT ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι.
(efaʸ autōi ho Yaʸsous, ei theleis teleios einai, hupage pōlaʸson sou ta huparⱪonta, kai dos ptōⱪois, kai hexeis thaʸsauron en ouranois, kai deuro, akolouthei moi.)

SBL-GNT ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ ⸀δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν ⸀οὐρανοῖς, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι.
(efaʸ autōi ho Yaʸsous; Ei theleis teleios einai, hupage pōlaʸson sou ta huparⱪonta kai ⸀dos ptōⱪois, kai hexeis thaʸsauron en ⸀ouranois, kai deuro akolouthei moi.)

RP-GNT Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε, πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ· καὶ δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι.
(Efaʸ autōi ho Yaʸsous, Ei theleis teleios einai, hupage, pōlaʸson sou ta huparⱪonta kai dos ptōⱪois, kai hexeis thaʸsauron en ouranōi; kai deuro, akolouthei moi.)

TC-GNT Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε, πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ δὸς [fn]πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν [fn]οὐρανῷ· καὶ δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι.
(Efaʸ autōi ho Yaʸsous, Ei theleis teleios einai, hupage, pōlaʸson sou ta huparⱪonta kai dos ptōⱪois, kai hexeis thaʸsauron en ouranōi; kai deuro, akolouthei moi. )

19:21 πτωχοις ¦ τοις πτωχοις NA TH WH

19:21 ουρανω ¦ ουρανοις CT

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 19:16–30: Jesus taught about entering the kingdom of heaven

In this section, a young man asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life. Jesus gave him a standard answer, which was to obey God’s commands.

The young man apparently felt that this was not enough and asked what else he should do (19:20). Then Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The young man was rich, and he was not willing to sell his things. So he left.

Jesus then used the rich young man as an example. He explained that riches make it difficult to enter the kingdom (19:23–24). The saying of a camel going through the eye of a needle was probably a well-known proverb about something impossible to do. Without God making it possible, neither a rich person nor anyone else is able to enter the kingdom (19:26).

Jesus also gave a promise that those whom he asked to leave their possessions and family behind to serve him would receive great rewards (19:29).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Rich Young Man (NIV)

A rich young man’s questions

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30.

19:21a

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect,

Jesus said to him, “If you^(sing) want to be perfect/complete,
Jesus answered, “If you want your life to be without fault,

If you want to be perfect: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as to be perfect also means “to be complete/whole/mature.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

If you want to be complete

If you want to lack nothing

If you want to have no faults

19:21b

go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,

go and sell your possessions and give the money to poor people.
go back and sell everything that you own and give the money to the people who are poor/needy.

go: This is a command. It does not specify where the young man should go. It just assumes that he will have to go to where he lives to take care of what Jesus told him to do. It is the opposite of the verb “come” at the end of the verse.

sell: The verb sell assumes that the young man would get money for his possessions.

your possessions: In Greek, this phrase is plural. It refers to everything that the young man owned.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

what you possess (ESV)

everything you own (CEV)

all your property (JBP)

and give to the poor: This clause implies that the young man should take the money he received for his possessions and give it to the poor. For example:

and give the money to the poor (NCV)

the poor: This phrase refers to people who are in poverty. They have little money and possessions.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

poor people

19:21c

and you will have treasure in heaven.

If you do that, you will have wealth/riches in heaven.
As a result, God will give you a reward in heaven.

and: In Greek, 19:21c is joined to the beginning of the verse with the common conjunction that the BSB frequently translates as and.

Here are some other ways to begin 19:21c:

If you do this (NCV)

As a result

you will have treasure in heaven: The Greek word that the BSB translates as treasure refers to something that is very valuable. The phrase treasure in heaven probably refers to rewards from God. (This same phrase occurs in 6:20a.) God will reward his people for “acts of righteousness” such as giving to the poor (6:2–4).

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Use the same word for treasures as in 6:19a. Such a word can be used to refer to figurative or spiritual treasures. For example:
you will have treasure/wealth in heaven
you will have riches in heaven (GNT)
Use a word or expression that refers to spiritual treasures. For example:
you will have rewards in heaven for doing good
you will receive that which is worth much in heaven

19:21d

Then come, follow Me.”

Then come and follow me.”
Then come and be my follower/disciple.”

Then come, follow Me: Here, Jesus used the verb follow in a figurative sense. He meant that the young man should become his disciple.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

Then come and be my follower (CEV)

This figurative sense of the word follow first occurs in 4:19a. See the note there for more information.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-condition-fact

εἰ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔφη αὐτῷ Ὁ Ἰησοῦς Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι ὕπαγε πώλησον σοῦ τά ὑπάρχοντα καί δός πτωχοῖς καί ἕξεις θησαυρόν ἐν οὐρανοῖς καί δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοί)

Jesus speaks as if this were a hypothetical situation, but he means that he knows it is true. If your language does not state something as a condition if it is certain or true, and if your readers might think that what Jesus is saying is uncertain, then you could translate his words as an affirmative statement. Alternate translation: [Because]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

θέλεις & ὕπαγε πώλησόν σου & δὸς & ἕξεις & δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει

˱you˲_˓are˒_wanting & ˓be˒_going (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔφη αὐτῷ Ὁ Ἰησοῦς Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι ὕπαγε πώλησον σοῦ τά ὑπάρχοντα καί δός πτωχοῖς καί ἕξεις θησαυρόν ἐν οὐρανοῖς καί δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοί)

Throughout this verse, the word you, the word your, and the commands are singular because Jesus is speaking to the young man.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

πτωχοῖς

˱to˲_˓the˒_poor

Jesus is using the adjective poor as a noun to mean poor people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [to people who are poor]

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

(Occurrence 2) καὶ

The word and introduces the result that will follow if the man does sell his possessions and give to the poor. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a result. Alternate translation: [and as a result,]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι

come ˓be˒_following (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔφη αὐτῷ Ὁ Ἰησοῦς Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι ὕπαγε πώλησον σοῦ τά ὑπάρχοντα καί δός πτωχοῖς καί ἕξεις θησαυρόν ἐν οὐρανοῖς καί δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοί)

The phrase come, follow me is a command to travel with Jesus and be his disciple. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [be my disciple] or [come with me as my student]

Parallel MAT 19:21

Section 19:16–30: Jesus taught about entering the kingdom of heaven

19:21a

19:21b

19:21c

19:21d