Matthew 25:29

25:29 For the one who has will be given more, ¹  and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ² 

Mark 4:24-25

4:24 And he said to them, “Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, ³  and more will be added to you. 4:25 For whoever has will be given more, but ⁴  whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” ⁵ 

Luke 8:18

8:18 So listen carefully, ⁶  for whoever has will be given more, but ⁷  whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has ⁸  will be taken from him.”

Luke 9:26

9:26 For whoever is ashamed ⁹  of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person ¹⁰  when he comes in his glory and in the glory ¹¹  of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 19:24-26

19:24 And he said to his attendants, ¹²  ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’ ¹³  19:25 But ¹⁴  they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ ¹⁵  19:26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, ¹⁶  but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ¹⁷ 

John 15:2-5

15:2 He takes away ¹⁸  every branch that does not bear ¹⁹  fruit in me. He ²⁰  prunes ²¹  every branch that bears ²²  fruit so that it will bear more fruit. 15:3 You are clean already ²³  because of the word that I have spoken to you. 15:4 Remain ²⁴  in me, and I will remain in you. ²⁵  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, ²⁶  unless it remains ²⁷  in ²⁸  the vine, so neither can you unless you remain ²⁹  in me.

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ³⁰  in me – and I in him – bears ³¹  much fruit, ³²  because apart from me you can accomplish ³³  nothing.

[25:29]  ¹ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[25:29]  ² sn The one who has nothing has even what he seems to have taken from him, ending up with no reward at all (see also Luke 8:18). The exact force of this is left ambiguous, but there is no comfort here for those who are pictured by the third slave as being totally unmoved by the master. Though not an outright enemy, there is no relationship to the master either.

[4:24]  ³ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

[4:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:25]  ⁵ sn What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will receive a share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken away forever.

[8:18]  ⁶ tn Or “Therefore pay close attention”; Grk “Take heed therefore how you hear.”

[8:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:18]  ⁸ sn The phrase what he thinks he has is important, because it is not what a person thinks he has that is important but whether he actually has something or not. Jesus describes the person who does not heed his word as having nothing. The person who has nothing loses even that which he thought was something but was not. In other words, he has absolutely nothing at all. Jesus’ teaching must be taken seriously.

[9:26]  ⁹ sn How one responds now to Jesus and his teaching is a reflection of how Jesus, as the Son of Man who judges, will respond then in the final judgment.

[9:26]  ¹⁰ tn This pronoun (τοῦτον, touton) is in emphatic position in its own clause in the Greek text: “of that person the Son of Man will be ashamed…”

[9:26]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in the glory of him and of the Father and of the holy angels.” “Glory” is repeated here in the translation for clarity and smoothness because the literal phrase is unacceptably awkward in contemporary English.

[19:24]  ¹² tn Grk “to those standing by,” but in this context involving an audience before the king to give an accounting, these would not be casual bystanders but courtiers or attendants.

[19:24]  ¹³ tn Grk “the ten minas.”

[19:25]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context. Those watching the evaluation are shocked, as the one with the most gets even more. The word “already” is supplied at the end of the statement to indicate this surprise and shock.

[19:25]  ¹⁵ tc A few mss (D W 69 pc and a few versional witnesses) omit this verse either to harmonize it with Matt 25:28-29 or to keep the king’s speech seamless.

[19:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”

[19:26]  ¹⁷ sn The one who has nothing has even what he seems to have taken away from him, ending up with no reward at all (see also Luke 8:18). The exact force of this is left ambiguous, but there is no comfort here for those who are pictured by the third slave as being totally unmoved by the master. Though not an outright enemy, there is no relationship to the master either. Three groups are represented in the parable: the faithful of various sorts (vv. 16, 18); the unfaithful who associate with Jesus but do not trust him (v. 21); and the enemies (v. 27).

[15:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ²¹ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ²² tn Or “that yields.”

[15:3]  ²³ sn The phrase you are clean already occurs elsewhere in the Gospel of John only at the washing of the disciples’ feet in 13:10, where Jesus had used it of the disciples being cleansed from sin. This further confirms the proposed understanding of John 15:2 and 15:6 since Judas was specifically excluded from this statement (but not all of you).

[15:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “Reside.”

[15:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “and I in you.” The verb has been repeated for clarity and to conform to contemporary English style, which typically allows fewer ellipses (omitted or understood words) than Greek.

[15:4]  ²⁶ sn The branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains connected to the vine, from which its life and sustenance flows. As far as the disciples were concerned, they would produce no fruit from themselves if they did not remain in their relationship to Jesus, because the eternal life which a disciple must possess in order to bear fruit originates with Jesus; he is the source of all life and productivity for the disciple.

[15:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “resides.”

[15:4]  ²⁸ tn While it would be more natural to say “on the vine” (so NAB), the English preposition “in” has been retained here to emphasize the parallelism with the following clause “unless you remain in me.” To speak of remaining “in” a person is not natural English either, but is nevertheless a biblical concept (cf. “in Christ” in Eph 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 11).

[15:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “you reside.”

[15:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “resides.”

[15:5]  ³¹ tn Or “yields.”

[15:5]  ³² tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.

[15:5]  ³³ tn Or “do.”