16:25

This verse is similar to Luke 9:24, Luke 17:33, and Matthew 10:39. If you have already translated any of these verses, you may want to look there for ideas in translating this verse.

This verse is a paradox. A paradox is something that seems to disagree with itself. It is not usually possible to save something by losing it.

In this verse Jesus talked about two different types of “life.” One type is “physical life.” It is our life on earth that is filled with our wants and desires. This life ends with the death of the physical body. The other type of life is “spiritual life.” It is eternal life that God gives to his people. Jesus said that if we want to keep our physical life, we will lose our chance for eternal life. But the opposite is true if we are willing to risk our physical life in order to follow him. If we are willing to do that, we will have the chance to receive eternal life.

16:25a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the basis for what Jesus said in 16:24.

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

Because
-or-
The reason ⌊I say this is⌋

Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this conjunction either.

whoever wants to save his life: This clause refers to a person who wants to keep his life on earth. He wants to avoid physical death. He is not willing to deny himself and suffer for Jesus (16:24). Instead, he wants to save or preserve his own way of life.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Those who want to save their lives (New Century Version)
-or-
if you want to save your own life (Good News Translation)

In some languages it may be necessary to translate life as a verb. For example:

whoever tries/seeks to continue living

whoever: Jesus was speaking to the disciples who were with him. But he talked about people everywhere at any time. Translate this in a way to include any person.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

a person who
-or-
people/anyone who
-or-
if you

will lose it: This phrase refers to losing true life, that is, life with God that lasts forever. The person will not experience that life either here on earth or in heaven after he dies. He will finally lose his physical life because no one can live forever. He will also lose the chance to gain true life with God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

will not get true life
-or-
will not receive eternal life

In some languages, a literal translation of lose may imply that a person misplaces something and cannot find it. It may also imply that a person who already has eternal life will lose it. Be careful that you do not imply either of those things.

16:25b

whoever loses his life for My sake: This clause refers to the person who is willing to suffer and die because of Jesus. This person gives up his right to follow his own desires in order to follow Jesus. Some of these people will even die because they believe in Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

whoever lets go of his life for me
-or-
if a person dies because of me
-or-
a person who does not love his own life because ⌊he follows⌋ me

will find it: The pronoun it refers to a person’s eternal life with God. The person who gives up his earthly life for Jesus will not experience spiritual death. He will gain true life with God in this world and in heaven.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

will find true life (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
will gain/experience ⌊eternal⌋ life

-or-

will have true life (New Century Version)

Here, the word find does not imply that something was lost. In this context it means to get or receive something.

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