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Luke 19:22
ESV He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
NIV "His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?
NASB He *said to him, ‘ From your own lips I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?
CSB "He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow,
NLT ‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,
KJV And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
NKJV And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

What does Luke 19:22 mean?

Within a parable told by Jesus (Luke 19:11–21), a king is angry. Before he left, he had entrusted ten servants with one mina each, commanding them to invest wisely and make him a profit. At least two have: one a tenfold increase and the other a fivefold increase. Accordingly, they received ten and five cities to rule. Another servant, however, hid his mina in a handkerchief. He didn't even try to invest it. His defense is that he knew his master was a successful businessman and he was afraid of losing what little he had.

The king uses the man's defense to condemn him. He doesn't denounce the man for failing to make a spectacular return on an investment. Rather, he criticizes the servant for doing nothing with what he was given. The king asks, "Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?" (Luke 19:23).

Jesus is telling the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11–27) to a crowd who is traveling with Him to Jerusalem for the Passover. They seem to think that when He arrives, He will take over, become king, and free the Jews from the Roman occupation. He is telling them that, like the king, He will have to leave for a time. During His absence, the members of the crowd—in fact, all Jews who witnessed His ministry—will have an important job to do.

They have been given a gift: the gospel, the "good news" that Jesus is the Messiah. They need to invest that gift by telling others so Jesus' kingdom can grow. The more faith they have that Jesus is the Messiah, the more their message will spread, and the more Jesus will reward them when He returns.

Those who have all the information about Jesus but do nothing with it prove that although they intellectually understand Jesus is King, they don't want to lose what they have. For many Jewish religious leaders, it was the approval of the Pharisees and their place in the synagogue (John 12:42–43). For the Pharisees, it was the love of the people (Matthew 6:5; 23:1–7).

The King James Version uses "austere" instead of "severe," which is more in line with Greek etymologically but doesn't always reflect the impact of the Greek. Here the term is meant to imply strictness, while in English we more often use "austere" to mean "plain."
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