Devine Scripture

Luke 14:9

What does Luke 14:9 mean?

A plain-English look at Luke 14:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Luke 14:9 means

Jesus describes the awkward reversal that follows self-promotion: the host comes with the more honored guest and tells the presumptuous one to give up his seat, forcing him to take the lowest place in shame. Pride often ends in public humiliation, because it rests on fragile comparisons and ignores the true evaluator—the host. The image warns against living to impress others. God will expose such vanity. Better to embrace lowliness now than be brought low later. The honor that matters is not seized but granted. This warning helps us examine our motives and accept obscurity, trusting God to place us where He wants in due time.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And then the giver of the feast will come to you and say, Give your place to this man; and you, with shame, will have to take the lowest seat.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and he who did call thee and him having come shall say to thee, Give to this one place, and then thou mayest begin with shame to occupy the last place.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee: Give this man place. And then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and he who invited thee and him come and say to thee, Give place to this [man], and then thou begin with shame to take the last place.

Context

This verse completes the negative side of the parable’s lesson. Having shown the folly of claiming the highest seat, Jesus will, in the next verse, commend choosing the lowest seat and receiving honor from the host. The contrast sets up the universal principle of verse 11 about God humbling the proud and exalting the humble. The flow then moves to Jesus addressing the host directly, applying humility to generosity and reshaping conventional hospitality away from reciprocal reward and toward kingdom reward at the resurrection.

v.8When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him,

v.9This passage

v.10But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Proverbs 11:2

    When pride cometh, then cometh shame; But with the lowly is wisdom.

  • Ezekiel 28:2

    Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God;—

  • Proverbs 3:35

    The wise shall inherit glory; But shame shall be the promotion of fools.

  • Daniel 4:30

    The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?

  • Esther 6:6

    So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?

  • Proverbs 16:18

    Pridegoethbefore destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

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