Exegesis:

ei de ‘and if…,’ introducing the inference to be drawn from v. 27.

en agrō ton chorton onta sēmeron ‘in the field the grass that is today,’ or, ‘the grass that is in the field today,’ preferably the latter. ton chorton is emphatic by position. chorton ‘grass’ takes up and interprets ta krina, since even the lilies belong to the grass that is alive today and is dead tomorrow. onta means ‘is present,’ ‘is alive.’

kai aurion eis klibanon ballomenon ‘and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow.’ ballomenon is present, as if it were happening already.

klibanos ‘furnace,’ ‘oven.’

(ei) … ho theos houtōs amphiazei ‘(if) … God so clothes…,’ indicating the premiss from which the inference is to be drawn in the exclamation that follows. houtōs points back to v. 27.

amphiazō ‘to dress,’ ‘to clothe.’

posō mallon humas ‘how much more you,’ with some verb meaning ‘to clothe,’ or, ‘to take care of’ understood.

oligopistoi ‘you men of little faith,’ vocative, implying a severe criticism of the disciples’ trust in God.

Translation:

But if …, cf. v. 26.

So clothes, or, ‘gives such (beautiful) clothing to,’ ‘makes so beautiful.’

Grass, or, ‘weeds’ (Batak Toba), ‘field-herbs’ (Willibrord), or some other rather high level generic term for (non-cultivated, short-living) vegetation that includes the term for “lilies” in v. 27.

Is alive, or, ‘is there,’ ‘grows’ (cf. New English Bible, East and Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘stands’ (Batak Toba).

Field. The rendering should refer to uncultivated land, or to arable land at the time it is not tilled.

Thrown into the oven, “burned up in the oven” (Good News Translation), ‘used as fuel’; in Balinese one has to say, ‘thrown into the mouth of the oven.’ The reference is to a possibility; hence, ‘may-be burned up’ (Batak Toba).

How much more will he …, or, ‘(then) he will certainly…,’ ‘(then) it is much more certain that he will…,’ cf. also, .’.. won’t the clothes God gives you be more beautiful than this?’ (Tzeltal).

O men of little faith usually requires adjustments, e.g. ‘you who are short-of faith’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘who don’t believe thoroughly’ (Ekari), ‘you, owners of small faith’ (Zarma), ‘you who believe little (or, only a bit, or, feebly),’ or as a full clause, “how little is your faith” (Good News Translation), ‘really you believe half-heartedly/reluctantly’ (Shona 1966), ‘why difficult your hearts believe?’ (Tzeltal). The phrase may have to be transposed, e.g. to a position before ‘how much…’ (Thai 1967).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.