I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says this immediately after the “rich young man” (or rich ruler) turns away sorrowful because he cannot part with his possessions to follow Jesus. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus uses a vivid hyperbole—camel and needle—to underscore how wealth can entangle the heart and make wholehearted allegiance to God difficult. The saying belongs to a cluster of teachings on discipleship, treasure, and the cost of following Jesus, and it prompts the disciples’ astonished question, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ follow-up stresses that salvation is ultimately God’s work, not a human achievement.

The saying warns that riches are spiritually perilous not because money is intrinsically evil, but because wealth can foster self-sufficiency, divided loyalties, and attachment to status and security. The “camel through the eye of a needle” image functions as deliberate exaggeration to convey human impossibility: entering God’s reign cannot be secured by merit, power, or resources. Read with the surrounding verses, the point is both ethical and theological—discipleship may require radical relinquishment, and yet even the wealthy are not beyond grace, since what is impossible for humans is possible for God.

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

1) “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV, Matthew 19:23)
2) “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (NRSV, Matthew 19:24)
3) Parallel wording appears in Mark 10:23–27 and Luke 18:24–27 with minor phrasing differences (e.g., “How hard it is for those who have wealth…”).