Luke 14:30

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

King James Version (1611)
Saying, This man beganne to build, and was not able to finish.

King James Version
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

English Standard Version
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

New American Standard Bible
saying, 'This person began to build, and was not able to finish!'

New Century Version
saying, ‘This person began to build but was not able to finish.'

Amplified Bible
saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish!'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

Legacy Standard Bible
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

Berean Standard Bible
saying, 'This man could not finish what he started to build.'

Contemporary English Version
They will say, "You started building, but could not finish the job."

Complete Jewish Bible
and say, ‘This is the man who began to build, but couldn't finish!'

Darby Translation
saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish?

Easy-to-Read Version
They would say, ‘This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Saying, This man began to builde, and was not able to make an end?

George Lamsa Translation
Saying, This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.

Good News Translation
‘You began to build but can't finish the job!' they will say.

Lexham English Bible
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!'

Literal Translation
saying, This man began to build, and did not have strength to finish.

American Standard Version
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Bible in Basic English
And saying, This man made a start at building and is not able to make it complete.

Hebrew Names Version
saying, 'This man began to build, and wasn't able to finish.'

International Standard Version
and say, 'This person started a building but couldn't finish it.'

Etheridge Translation
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Murdock Translation
and say: This man began to build, and was unable to finish.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Saying: this man began to buylde, and was not able to make an ende?

English Revised Version
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

World English Bible
saying, 'This man began to build, and wasn't able to finish.'

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Weymouth's New Testament
saying, `This man began to build, but could not finish.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and myyte not make an ende.

Update Bible Version
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Webster's Bible Translation
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

New English Translation
They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!'

New King James Version
saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

New Living Translation
They would say, ‘There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it!'

New Life Bible
They would say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

New Revised Standard
saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
saying - This man, began to build, and was not able to finish!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Saying: This man began to build and was not able to finish.

Revised Standard Version
saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
sayinge: this man beganne to bilde and was not able to make an ende.

Young's Literal Translation
saying -- This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& to saye: This man beganne to buylde, and is not able to perfurme it.

Mace New Testament (1729)
this man, will they say, began to build, but wanted stock to finish.

Simplified Cowboy Version
They would say, 'There goes that greenhorn who doesn't know cows from caterpillars!'

Contextual Overview

²⁵One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. ²⁸"Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn't finish.' ³¹"Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? ³³ "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. ³⁴ "Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it's useless, good for nothing. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" ³⁵ One time when Jesus went for a Sabbath meal with one of the top leaders of the Pharisees, all the guests had their eyes on him, watching his every move. Right before him there was a man hugely swollen in his joints. So Jesus asked the religion scholars and Pharisees present, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or no?" They were silent. So he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. Then he said, "Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn't rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?" They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that. He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, "When someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he'll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You're in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.' Red-faced, you'll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left. "When you're invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.' That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I'm saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." Then he turned to the host. "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be—and experience—a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God's people." That triggered a response from one of the guests: "How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God's kingdom!" Jesus followed up. "Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many. When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the invited guests, saying, ‘Come on in; the food's on the table.' "Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses. The first said, ‘I bought a piece of property and need to look it over. Send my regrets.' "Another said, ‘I just bought five teams of oxen, and I really need to check them out. Send my regrets.' "And yet another said, ‘I just got married and need to get home to my wife.' "The servant went back and told the master what had happened. He was outraged and told the servant, ‘Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and wretched you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.' "The servant reported back, ‘Master, I did what you commanded—and there's still room.' "The master said, ‘Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party.'" One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn't finish.' "Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. "Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it's useless, good for nothing. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Matthew 7:27, Matthew 27:3-8, Acts 1:18, Acts 1:19, 1 Corinthians 3:11-14, Hebrews 6:4-8, Hebrews 6:11, Hebrews 10:38, 2 Peter 2:19-22, 2 John 1:8

Reciprocal: Nehemiah 6:3 - I am doing Matthew 27:40 - that destroyest

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Saying, this man began to build,.... He set out well, he promised great things, and made a considerable bluster and stir, as if he would carry things at once to a very high pitch:

and was not able to finish; it was all noise and talk, and nothing else: falling off from a profession of religion, exposes men to contempt and scorn; such are not only cast out of churches with disgrace, but are despised by men, by wicked men; and are a reproach, a proverb, and a taunt in all places; and even are mocked by devils too.