Luke 11:5

International Standard Version

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He also said to them: “Suppose one of you

King James Version (1611)
And he said vnto them, Which of you shall haue a friend, and shall goe vnto him at midnight, and say vnto him, Friend, lend me three loaues.

King James Version
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

English Standard Version
And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

New American Standard Bible
And He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,

New Century Version
Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you went to your friend's house at midnight and said to him, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread.

Amplified Bible
Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread];

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;

Legacy Standard Bible
Then He said to them, "Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

Berean Standard Bible
Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

Contemporary English Version
Then Jesus went on to say: Suppose one of you goes to a friend in the middle of the night and says, "Let me borrow three loaves of bread.

Complete Jewish Bible
He also said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

Darby Translation
And he said to them, Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, let me have three loaves,

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you went to your friend's house very late at night and said to him, ‘A friend of mine has come into town to visit me. But I have nothing for him to eat. Please give me three loaves of bread.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer he said vnto them, Which of you shall haue a friende, and shall goe to him at midnight, and say vnto him, Friende, lende mee three loaues?

George Lamsa Translation
And he said to them, Who is among you who has a friend, and he should go to him at midnight, and say to him, My friend, loan me three loaves,

Good News Translation
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

Lexham English Bible
And he said to them, "Who of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

Literal Translation
And He said to them, Who of you shall have a friend, and will come to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves.

American Standard Version
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread;

Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, "Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

Etheridge Translation
And he said to them, Who of you that has a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, [fn] and shall say to him, My friend, lend me three loaves,

Murdock Translation
And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, that shall come to him at midnight and say to him, My friend, lend me three cakes;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayde vnto them: Whiche of you shall haue a friende, and shall go vnto hym at mydnyght, and saye vnto hym, friende lende me three loaues,

English Revised Version
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

World English Bible
He said to them, "Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves:

Weymouth's New Testament
And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night and say, "`Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, Who of you schal haue a freend, and schal go to hym at mydnyyt, and schal seie to hym, Freend, leene to me thre looues;

Update Bible Version
And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves:

New English Translation
Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

New King James Version
And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves;

New Living Translation
Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,

New Life Bible
Jesus said to them, "If one of you has a friend and goes to him in the night and says, ‘Friend, give me three loaves of bread,

New Revised Standard
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he said unto them - Who from among you, shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him - Friend! supply me with three loaves,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves,

Revised Standard Version
And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he sayde vnto them: if any of you shuld have a frede and shuld goo to him at mid nyght and saye vnto him: frende lende me thre loves

Young's Literal Translation
And he said unto them, `Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go on unto him at midnight, and may say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he sayde vnto them: Which of you is it that hath a frende, and shulde go to him at mydinght, and saye vnto him: frende, lende me thre loaues,

Mace New Testament (1729)
Then he said to them, suppose any of you should go to his friend at midnight; and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves:

THE MESSAGE
Then he said, "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don't have a thing on hand.'

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then he gave them a clinic on prayer and said, "Let's say you eat the last of the food you have in your house and some company shows up. You run over to the neighboring ranch and knock on the door. A cowboy opens it and asks what you want so late, and you ask to borrow a bag of beans to feed your visitor.

Contextual Overview

¹ Once Jesushe">[fn] was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." ² So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say,Matthew 6:9;">[xr] 'Father,Our Father in heaven">[fn] may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.kingdom come. May your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven">[fn] ³ Keep giving us every day our daily bread,our bread from above">[fn] ⁴ and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us.is indebted to us">[fn] And never bring us into temptation.'"into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one">[fn] ⁵ Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. ⁶ A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' ⁷ Suppose he answers from inside, 'Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything!' ⁸ I tell you, even though he doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.Luke 18:1;">[xr] ⁹ So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the doorit">[fn] will be opened for you.Matthew 7:7; 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 15:7; James 1:6; 1 John 3:22;">[xr] ¹⁰ For everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the doorit">[fn] opened.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Luke 18:1-8

Reciprocal: Genesis 32:25 - that he Isaiah 62:6 - keep Mark 10:48 - but Romans 12:12 - continuing Ephesians 6:18 - all perseverance

Cross-References

John 3:13
"No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.who is in heaven">[fn]Proverbs 30:4; John 6:33,38, 51,62; 16:28; Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:47; Ephesians 4:9-10;">[xr]

Hebrews 4:13
No creature can hide from him, but all are naked and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.Job 1:26:6; 34:21; Psalm 33:13-14; 90:8; 139:11-12; Proverbs 15:11;">[xr]

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend,.... A neighbour, or acquaintance:

and shall go unto him at midnight; which may seem a very unseasonable time, and which nothing but real distress, not knowing what otherwise to do, would put a man upon:

and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves: it was usual of the Jews to borrow bread of one another, and certain rules are laid down, when, and on what condition, this is to be done; as for instance, on a sabbath day k,

"a man may ask of his friend vessels of wine, and vessels of oil, only he must not say, lend me: and so a woman,

מחבירתה ככרות, "bread of her friend".''

Again l,

"so said Hillell, let not a woman lend ככר לחברתה "bread to her friend", till she has fixed the price; lest wheat should be dearer, and they should be found coming into the practice of usury.''

For what was lent, could not be demanded again under thirty days m.

k Misn. Sabbat, c. 23. sect. 1. l Misn. Bava Metzia. c. 5. sect. 9. m T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 3. 2. Jarchi in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 148. 1. Bartenona in Misn. Sabbat, c. 23. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he said unto them ... - Jesus proceeds to show that, in order to obtain the blessing, it was necessary to “persevere” in asking for it. For this purpose he introduces the case of a friend’s asking bread of another for one who had come to him unexpectedly. His design is solely to show the necessity of being “importunate” or persevering in prayer to God.

At midnight - A time when it would be most inconvenient for his friend to help him; an hour when he would naturally be in bed and his house shut.

Three loaves - There is nothing particularly denoted by the number “three” in this place. Jesus often threw in such particulars merely to fill up the story, or to preserve the consistency of it.

My children are with me in bed - This does not necessarily mean that they were in the “same bed” with him, but that they were “all” in bed, the house was still, the door was shut, and it was troublesome for him to rise at that time of night to accommodate him. It should be observed, however, that the customs of Orientals differ in this respect from our own. Among them it is not uncommon indeed it is the common practice for a whole family - parents, children, and servants - to sleep in the same room. See “The Land and the Book,” vol. i. p. 180. This is “not” to be applied to God, as if it were troublesome to him to be sought unto, or as if “he” would ever reply to a sinner in that manner. All that is to be applied to God in this parable is simply that it is proper to “persevere” in prayer. As a “man” often gives because the request is “repeated,” and as one is not discouraged because the favor that he asks of his neighbor is “delayed,” so God often answers us after long and importunate requests.