Matthew 23:12

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Cross-references

In Matthew 18:4, humbling oneself like a child leads to greatness — directly parallel to being humbled/exalted here.

Matthew 5:3 Related theme

In Matthew 5:3, the poor in spirit are promised the kingdom — a parallel beatitude linking humility with exaltation.

Psalm 138:6 Parallel

In Psalm 138:6, the Lord regards the lowly but keeps the haughty at a distance — same contrast between humility and pride.

1 Peter 5:5 Parallel

1 Peter 5:5 echoes the same principle — God resists the proud and favors the humble, aligning with Jesus' teaching.

James 4:6 Parallel

James 4:6 proclaims God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble — the same truth about humility and exaltation.

Luke 18:14 Parallel

Luke 18:14 repeats this same maxim after the Pharisee and tax collector parable — reinforcing the lesson.

Luke 14:11 Parallel

Luke 14:11 contains the exact same saying of Jesus — a clear parallel teaching on humility and exaltation.

Luke 1:52 Parallel

Luke 1:52 states God brings down the powerful and lifts up the humble — the same reversal Jesus teaches here.

Daniel 4:37 Parallel

Daniel 4:37 echoes this truth — God humbles the proud, as Nebuchadnezzar learned when his pride was brought low.

In Proverbs 29:23, pride brings a person low but the lowly gain honor — identical teaching on humility and exaltation.

Proverbs 16:19 Related theme

In Proverbs 16:19, being lowly in spirit is better than sharing plunder with the proud — reinforces the value of humility over pride.

In Proverbs 16:18, pride leads to destruction — a direct parallel to 'whoever exalts himself will be humbled.'

Proverbs 15:33 Related theme

In Proverbs 15:33, humility comes before honor — a wisdom saying that parallels the sequence of humbling then exaltation.

Job 22:29 Parallel

In Job 22:29, God abases the proud and saves the lowly — an OT parallel to the principle of humbling the proud and exalting the humble.

In Ezekiel 31:10, the same principle is illustrated: Assyria's pride leads to being cut down, mirroring Jesus' warning that self-exaltation brings humiliation.

Luke 9:48 Parallel

Luke 9:48 presents the complementary teaching: receiving the lowly leads to greatness, echoing the reversal principle of humility and exaltation.

James 4:10 Parallel

James 4:10 directly commands the same posture—humble yourself before God for exaltation—reinforcing Jesus' promise.

1 Peter 5:6 Parallel

1 Peter 5:6 similarly exhorts humility under God's hand with the promise of exaltation, a direct parallel to Jesus' teaching.

Isaiah 57:15 describes God dwelling with the lowly and contrite — the same principle that the humble are lifted up by God.

Isaiah 2:12 Parallel

Isaiah 2:12 proclaims a day of the Lord against the proud — complementing the humbling of the proud in this verse.

Luke 1:51 Parallel

In Luke 1:51, Mary's song declares God scatters the proud — reinforcing the principle that the proud are brought low.