# No servant can

"A servant cannot"

# serve two masters

It is implied that he cannot "serve two different masters at the same time"

# for either he will ... or else he will

These two clauses are essentially the same. The only significant difference is that the first master is hated in the first clause, but the second master is hated in the second clause.

# he will hate

"the servant will hate"

# be devoted to

"love very strongly"

# despise the other

"hold the other in contempt" or "hate the other"

# despise

This means essentially the same as "hate" in the previous clause.

# You cannot serve

Jesus was talking to a group of people, so languages that have a plural form of "you" would use that. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/serve]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lord]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/god]]