The Holy Bible Verses

Matthew 16:26

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Translations sourced from the public-domain WEB, KJV, and ASV. See all sources.

“For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?”

— WEB

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

— KJV

“For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?”

— ASV

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Commentary

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul--or forfeit his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?--Instead of these weighty words, which we find in Mar 8:36 also, it is thus expressed in Luk 9:25 : "If he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away," or better, "If he gain the whole world, and destroy or forfeit himself." How awful is the stake as here set forth! If a man makes the present world--in its various forms of riches, honors, pleasures, and such like--the object of supreme pursuit, be it that he gains the world; yet along with it he forfeits his own soul. Not that any ever did, or ever will gain the whole world--a very small portion of it, indeed, falls to the lot of the most successful of the world's votaries--but to make the extravagant concession, that by giving himself entirely up to it, a man gains the whole world; yet, setting over against this gain the forfeiture of his soul--necessarily following the surrender of his whole heart to the world--what is he profited? But, if not the whole world, yet possibly something else may be conceived as an equivalent for the soul.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (public domain)

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