Luke 10:15
What does Luke 10:15 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 10:15 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 10:15 means
Jesus asks rhetorically whether Capernaum, exalted unto heaven, will be lifted but instead shall be brought down to Hades. Capernaum had been the center of much of Jesus’ ministry and might have been seen as privileged; here Jesus warns that such exaltation will be reversed because of their rejection. Being 'brought down to Hades' indicates judgment and humiliation. The verse reminds that spiritual exaltation is not permanent when people resist God’s mercy; privileges can become occasions for greater condemnation.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt be brought down unto Hades.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt be brought down unto Hades.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto hades thou shalt be brought down.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And thou, Capharnaum, which art exalted unto heaven, thou shalt be thrust down to hell.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And thou, Capernaum, who hast been raised up to heaven, shalt be brought down even to hades.
Context
This pronouncement concludes the series of woes against towns indifferent to Jesus’ ministry. It moves from general warnings to a pointed prophecy about Capernaum, a town closely connected to Jesus’ activity. The next verse underscores the authority the disciples represent: who hears them hears Jesus and ultimately hears God, connecting rejection of the messengers to rejection of the mission itself.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ezekiel 32:20
They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.
- Genesis 11:4
And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
- Ezekiel 31:18
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.
- Ezekiel 26:20
then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
- Ezekiel 32:27
And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, that are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are upon their bones; forthey werethe terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
- Jeremiah 51:53
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, saith Jehovah.
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