Luke 10:31

Now by chance ¹  a priest was going down that road, but ²  when he saw the injured man ³  he passed by ⁴  on the other side. ⁵ 

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

"And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.

Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side.

And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Now by chance ¹  a priest was going down that road, but ²  when he saw the injured man ³  he passed by ⁴  on the other side. ⁵ 

¹ sn The phrase by chance adds an initial note of hope and fortune to the expectation in the story.

² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the priest’s expected action (helping the victim) and what he really did.

³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn It is not said why the priest passed by and refused to help. It is not relevant to the point of the parable that no help was given in the emergency situation.

⁵ sn The text suggests that the priest went out of his way (on the other side) not to get too close to the scene.