Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Luke 8:21

He replied, "My mother and brothers are the ones who hear and do God's Word. Obedience is thicker than blood."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Fellowship;   Jesus, the Christ;   Obedience;   Thompson Chain Reference - Brethren;   Church;   Family;   Obedience;   Obedience-Disobedience;   Relationships, Spiritual;   Spiritual;   The Topic Concordance - Family;   Hearing;   Obedience;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Scriptures, the;   Titles and Names of Saints;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Mary;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Communion (2);   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Flesh;   Marriage;   Mary, the Virgin;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Evangelism;   James;   Luke, Gospel of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Brethren;   Communion (2);   Family (Jesus);   Hearing;   James ;   Luke;   Organization (2);   Son, Sonship;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for November 24;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”
King James Version (1611)
And hee answered and said vnto them, My mother and my brethren are these which heare the word of God, and doe it.
King James Version
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
English Standard Version
But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
New American Standard Bible
But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
New Century Version
Jesus answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who listen to God's teaching and obey it!"
Amplified Bible
But He answered, "My mother and My brothers are these who listen to the word of God and do it!"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
Legacy Standard Bible
But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
Berean Standard Bible
But He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out."
Contemporary English Version
Jesus answered, "My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God's message."
Complete Jewish Bible
But he gave them this answer: "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's message and act on it!"
Darby Translation
But he answering said to them, My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do [it].
Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who listen to God's teaching and obey it."
Geneva Bible (1587)
But he answered, and sayd vnto them, My mother and my brethren are these which heare the worde of God, and doe it.
George Lamsa Translation
He answered and said to them, These are my mother and my brothers, those who hear the word of God and do it.
Good News Translation
Jesus said to them all, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Lexham English Bible
But he answered and said to them, "These are my mother and my brothers—the ones who hear the word of God and do it.
Literal Translation
And answering, He said to them, My mother and My brothers are these: the ones hearing the Word of God, and doing it.
American Standard Version
But he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these that hear the word of God, and do it.
Bible in Basic English
But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it.
Hebrew Names Version
But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it."
International Standard Version
But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
Etheridge Translation
But he answered and said to them, These are my mother and my brethren, they who hear the word of Aloha, and do it.
Murdock Translation
And he answered and said: My mother and my brothers, are they who hear the word of God, and do it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He aunswered, and sayde vnto them: My mother & my brethren are these, which heare the worde of God, & do it.
English Revised Version
But he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
World English Bible
But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it."
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he answering said to them, My mother and my brethren are these who hear the word of God and keep it.
Weymouth's New Testament
"My mother and my brothers," He replied, "are these who hear God's Message and obey it."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he answeride, and seide to hem, My modir and my britheren ben these, that heren the word of God, and doon it.
Update Bible Version
But he answered and said to them, My mother and my brothers are these that hear the word of God, and do it.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he answered and said to them, My mother and my brethren are these who hear the word of God, and do it.
New English Translation
But he replied to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
New King James Version
But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
New Living Translation
Jesus replied, "My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God's word and obey it."
New Life Bible
Jesus said to them, "My mother and brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it."
New Revised Standard
But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, he, answering, said unto them - My mother and my brethren, are, these - they who, the word of God, are hearing and doing.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it.
Revised Standard Version
But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
He answered and sayd vnto them: my mother and my brethren are these which heare the worde of God and do it.
Young's Literal Translation
and he answering said unto them, `My mother and my brethren! they are those who the word of God are hearing, and doing.'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he answered, & sayde vnto the: My mother and my brethren are these, which heare the worde of God, and do it.
Mace New Testament (1729)
but he answered them, my mother and brethren are these, who attend to the word of God, and practise it.
Simplified Cowboy Version
He answered back, "My real family are those who ride for the Boss and do what he says."

Contextual Overview

4As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn't have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" 9 His disciples asked, "Why did you tell this story?" 10 He said, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren't going to get it: Their eyes are open but don't see a thing, Their ears are open but don't hear a thing. 11"This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved. 13 "The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone. 14 "And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun. 15 "But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest. 16"No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We're not keeping secrets; we're telling them. We're not hiding things; we're bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don't become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes." 19His mother and brothers showed up but couldn't get through to him because of the crowd. He was given the message, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to see you." 21 He replied, "My mother and brothers are the ones who hear and do God's Word. Obedience is thicker than blood."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

My mother: Luke 11:27, Luke 11:28, Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:45, Matthew 28:10, John 15:14, John 15:15, John 20:17, 2 Corinthians 5:16, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Hebrews 2:11-13

which: Luke 8:15, Matthew 7:21-26, Matthew 17:5, John 6:28, John 6:29, John 13:17, James 1:22, 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:22, 1 John 3:23, 3 John 1:11

Reciprocal: Genesis 7:5 - all that Ezekiel 33:31 - and they Matthew 12:50 - do Romans 2:13 - For not Romans 10:17 - and hearing Philippians 4:9 - do 1 Thessalonians 2:13 - the word of God

Cross-References

Genesis 3:17
He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, ‘Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
Genesis 6:5
God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them."
Genesis 6:17
"I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
Genesis 8:1
Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship. God caused the wind to blow and the floodwaters began to go down. The underground springs were shut off, the windows of Heaven closed and the rain quit. Inch by inch the water lowered. After 150 days the worst was over.
Genesis 8:7
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
Genesis 8:10
He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
Genesis 8:15
God spoke to Noah: "Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth."
Genesis 8:22
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."
Psalms 58:3
The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies. Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison, drips from their forked tongues— Deaf to threats, deaf to charm, decades of wax built up in their ears.
Ecclesiastes 7:20
There's not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he answered and said unto them,.... Not to his mother and brethren, but to those that told him of them, who either designed to reproach him with them, by reason of the meanness of them, or to interrupt him in his work:

my mother and my brethren are these; pointing to his disciples:

which hear the word of God; which he had been preaching, and was meant by the seed in the preceding parable:

and do it; behave in their lives and conversations agreeably to it; and observe the precepts and ordinances in it; elsewhere called the will of God his Father; :-.

:-.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 12:46-50.


 
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