Luke 6 · Verse 24

Luke 6:24

But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Luke 6:24, King James Version

Luke 6:24 in other translations

BSBBut woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
WEB“But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.
ASVBut woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
YLT‘But woe to you--the rich, because ye have got your comfort.
DARBYBut woe to you rich, for ye have received your consolation.
BBEBut unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now.
WebsterBut woe to you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

What does Luke 6:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 6:24-25
24-25. rich ... full ... laugh--who have all their good things and joyous feelings here and now, in perishable objects. received your consolation--(see on Lu 16:25). shall hunger--their inward craving strong as ever, but the materials of satisfaction forever gone.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verses 24-26. These verses have been omitted by Matthew. They seem to have been spoken to the Pharisees.

Verse 24. Who are rich. In this world's goods. They loved them; they had sought for them; they found their consolation in them. It implies, farther, that they would not seek or receive consolation from the gospel. They were proud, and would not seek it; satisfied, and did not desire it; filled with cares, and had no time or disposition to attend to it. All the consolation which they had reason to expect they had received. Alas! how poor and worthless is such consolation, compared with that which the gospel would give!

Woe unto you that are full! Not hungry. Satisfied with their wealth, and not feeling their need of anything better than earthly wealth can give. Many, alas! are thus full. They profess to be satisfied. They desire nothing but wealth, and a sufficiency to satisfy the wants of the body. They have no anxiety for the riches that shall endure for ever.

Ye shall hunger. Your property shall be taken away, or you shall see that it is of little value; and then you shall see the need of something better. You shall feel your want and wretchedness, and shall hunger for something to satisfy the desires of a dying, sinful soul.

That laugh now. Are happy, or thoughtless, or gay, or filled with levity.

Shall mourn and weep. The time is coming when you shall sorrow deeply. In sickness, in calamity, in the prospect of death, in the fear of eternity, your laughter shall be turned into sorrow. There is a place where you cannot laugh, and there you will see the folly of having passed the proper time of preparing for such scenes in levity and folly. Alas! how many thus spend their youth ! and how many weep when it is too late! God gives them over, and laughs at THEIR calamity, and mocks when their fear comes, Prov 1:26. To be happy in such scenes, it is necessary to be sober, humble, pious in early life. Then we need not weep in the day of calamity; then there will be no terror in death; then there will be nothing to fear in the grave.

(d) "you that are rich", Hab 2.9, Jas 5:1 (e) "ye have received", Lk 16:25

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 But wo unto you that are rich! - The Pharisees, who were laden with the spoils of the people which they received in gifts, etc. These three verses are not found in the sermon, as recorded by Matthew. They seem to be spoken chiefly to the scribes and Pharisees, who, in order to be pleasing to all, spoke to every one what he liked best; and by finesse, flattery, and lies, found out the method of gaining and keeping the good opinion of the multitude.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 6:20-26

Here begins a discourse of Christ, most of which is also found in Mt 5; 7. But some think that this was preached at another time and place. All believers that take the precepts of the gospel to themselves, and live by them, may take the promises of the gospel to themselves, and live upon them. Woes are denounced against prosperous sinners as miserable people, though the world envies them. Those are blessed indeed…

Read the full comment on Luke 6:20-26 →

Luke 6:24 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΠλὴνPlēnButG4133
οὐαὶouaiwoeG3759
ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771
τοῖςtoiswho areG3588
πλουσίοις,plousioisrich,G4145
ὅτιhotiforG3754
ἀπέχετεapecheteyou are receivingG568
τὴνtēntheG3588
παράκλησινparaklēsincomfortG3874
ὑμῶν.¶humōnof you.G4771

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 6:24

  • Psalms 49:6-7

    They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

  • Matthew 6:2

    Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

  • 1 Timothy 6:17

    Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

  • Psalms 49:16-19

    Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

  • James 5:1-6

    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. …

  • James 2:6

    But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

  • Luke 18:23-25

    And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

  • Amos 6:1-6

    Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; …

  • Proverbs 1:32

    For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

  • Psalms 73:3-12

    For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. …

  • Luke 16:19-25

    There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; …

  • Amos 4:1-3

    Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
woe.
12:15-21; 18:23-25; Job 21:7-15; Ps 49:6,7,16-19; 73:3-12; Pr 1:32
Jer 5:4-6; Am 4:1-3; 6:1-6; Hag 2:9; 1Ti 6:17; Jas 2:6; 5:1-6
Re 18:6-8
for.
16:19-25; Mt 6:2,5,16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Luke 6:23

    Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

  • Luke 6:24

    But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

  • Luke 6:25

    Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Read all of Luke 6

Luke 6:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mas ¡ay de vosotros, ricos! porque tenéis vuestro consuelo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Mais malheur à vous, riches, car vous avez votre consolation;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Aber wehe euch Reichen, denn ihr habt euren Trost dahin.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Verumtamen væ vobis divitibus, quia habetis consolationem vestram.