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.
In Matthew 5:3, the poor in spirit are promised the kingdom — a parallel beatitude linking humility with exaltation.
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 echoes the same principle — God resists the proud and favors the humble, aligning with Jesus' teaching.
James 4:6 proclaims God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble — the same truth about humility and exaltation.
Luke 18:14 repeats this same maxim after the Pharisee and tax collector parable — reinforcing the lesson.
Luke 14:11 contains the exact same saying of Jesus — a clear parallel teaching on humility and exaltation.
Luke 1:52 states God brings down the powerful and lifts up the humble — the same reversal Jesus teaches here.
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.
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.'
In Proverbs 15:33, humility comes before honor — a wisdom saying that parallels the sequence of humbling then exaltation.
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 presents the complementary teaching: receiving the lowly leads to greatness, echoing the reversal principle of humility and exaltation.
James 4:10 directly commands the same posture—humble yourself before God for exaltation—reinforcing Jesus' promise.
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 proclaims a day of the Lord against the proud — complementing the humbling of the proud in this verse.
In Luke 1:51, Mary's song declares God scatters the proud — reinforcing the principle that the proud are brought low.