Luke 14:10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room;

Jesus starts a story about a man picking the best rooms and having someone more worthy show up.

KJV

Luke 14:10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

NIV

Luke 14:10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.

LISTENERS HEARD

But when you might be invited, being brought, drop down into the furthest place where when he might show up, the one having invited you, he will say to you, "Friend, ascend higher. Then it will be for you an honor in front of all the ones with you.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

First thing hidden here is that this is addressed to a single person. Most of Jesus statements use the plural "you" but here it is the singular. This verse includes three unique words used nowhere else, even though they are translated to look like other words. There are also two uncommon words, one a play on words.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)

But(CW) when thou art bidden, go(WF) and(IW) sit down in the lowest room; that(IW) when he that bade(WF) thee cometh, he may(WT) say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have(WW) worship(CW) in the presence (MW) of them(CW) that(IW) sit(CW) at meat(IW) with thee.

CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but" and works differently.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "going."
IW - Inserted Word-- The "and" doesn't exist in the source.
IW - Inserted Word -- The "that" doesn't exist in the source.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "calling."
WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "may" should indicate the future tense.
WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "have" should be something more like "is."
CW --Confusing Word -- The "glory" does not capture the word's more general meaning.
MW - Missing Word -- The word "all" after "in the presences of" is not shown in the English translation.
IW - Inserted Word-- The "of" doesn't exist in the source.
CW --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "them."
IW - Inserted Word -- The "that" doesn't exist in the source.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "sitting."
IW - Inserted Word-- The "at meat" doesn't exist in the source.

But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.

CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but" and works differently.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "going."
WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "take" should be something more like "go."
IW - Inserted Word-- The "and" doesn't exist in the source.
IW - Inserted Word -- The "that" doesn't exist in the source.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "calling."
WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "may" should indicate the future tense.
WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "have" should be something more like "is."
CW --Confusing Word -- The "glory" does not capture the word's more general meaning.
MW - Missing Word -- The word "all" after "in the presences of" is not shown in the English translation.
IW - Inserted Word-- The "of" doesn't exist in the source.
CW --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "them."
IW - Inserted Word -- The "that" doesn't exist in the source.
WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "sitting."
IW - Inserted Word-- The "at meat" doesn't exist in the source.

EACH WORD of KJV

But -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus almost always uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

when -- The Greek word translated as "when" introduces a phrase that explains a certain condition so "whenever" or "since." This is not the more common word for "when." Here, the condition is less certain to happen.

thou -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.

art -- This helping verb "art" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

bidden, -- The term translated as "bidden" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address."

go -- (WF) The word translated as "go," means, in the passive, used here, to "go," "march," "depart," and "proceed." It is almost always translated as "go" in the NT but Jesus uses it to mean "depart." This word uniquely means "to pursue a course" and "to depart from life." Jesus also uses it for a play on words referring to its "depart from life" meaning. This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "going."

and -- (IW) These is no "and" here. It is added because the previous participle was changed from an adjective form to an active verb in translation.

sit down -- The active verb translated as "sit down" means to "fall back", "give ground", "lifeless", of style, of a plan "to be given up", and "recline" at meals. It is a play on words, meaning both "recline" at the mean and "retreat".

in -- The word translated as "to" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in" (a position), "as much as (of measure or limit)," "in regards to" a subject, "up to" limits in measures, "until" in reference to time, "within" a time limit, and "for" a purpose or object. Used with the Greek "from" it means "from...to."

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

lowest -- "Lowest " is from an adjective that, in space, this means "furthest." In degree, it means "uttermost" and "highest." In persons, it means "lowest" and "meanest." Of time, it means "last" and "ending." If the context is the previous verse, it can refer to distance or people so it means "furthest" or "meanest." However, clearly, its use is intended for a double meaning, meaning both. KJV English has a double meaning as well, but it is not quite the same.

room; -- "room" is translated from a Greek word that means "place," "position," and "topic." This is a fairly uncommon word for Christ to use.

that -- -- The word translated as "that" is a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause "that," "when," "in order that" "when," or "because."As an adverb it is translated as "there" is an adverb "in that place," "there," "where," or "when."

when -- The Greek word translated as "when" introduces a phrase that explains a certain condition so "whenever" or "since." This is not the more common word for "when." Here, the condition is less certain to happen.

he -- The word translated as "he" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun, "he," "she," "it," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "when," "for which reason," and many similar meanings. In the neuter, plural, its sense is "these things."

that -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than as a participle.

bade -- (WF) The term translated as "bade" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address." This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "calling."

thee -- The "you" here is the singular, direct object form the second-person pronoun. It is the object of either the action of the verb or a preposition.

cometh,-- The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Jesus usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Technically, it is in the middle voice meaning the subject acts on himself. In English, this is assumed in our words "come" and "go." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

he -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.

may -- (WT) This helping verb "may" indicates the future tense, but the verb does not mean the future.

say- The word translated as "say" means "to say" and "to speak." It is one of the two most common words translated "speak," "say" and "tell," but it has more a sense of addressing and proclaiming.

unto -- This "to" is added to create the infinitive form of the following verb.

thee, --- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object of a verb or a preposition.

Friend, -- "Friend" is an adjective means "loved," "beloved," "dear," "kith and kin," "nearest and dearest," "friends," and (of things) "welcome" and "pleasant." It is an adjective used as a noun. In English, we would say "loved one."

go up -- "Go up" is not a common word translated as "go" like the one above, but a word used by Jesus uniquely here. It means to "go up," "mount besides," "climb," and "ascend." It is a command.

higher: -- "Higher" is another word used uniquely here. It means "higher," "upper," "above" and "a higher place."

then -- The Greek word for "then" means "at this time" or "then." With the subjective negative, the sense is "not when."

shalt -- This helping verb "shall" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

thou -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.

have-- (WW) The verb "have" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions. This word doesn't mean "have."

worship -- (CW) The Greek noun translated as "worship " means "expectation," "notion," "opinion," "repute," and "popular repute." Translations as "glory" or "splendor" are found primarily in translating the Bible. Though it can have both a positive ("shining reputation") and negative ("bad repute") in Greek, Jesus only uses it to describe the word's "magnificent" aspect. The verb form has the sense of "recognize," but "recognition" while positive in the sense of rewarding people simply means knowing them in the noun form. See this articlefor more.

in the presence -- The Greek term translated as "before" is not used outside of Luke except once in John. It appears here for the first time in Jesus's words here. It means "in front of".

missing "all" -- (MW) The untranslated word "all" is the Greek adjective meaning "all," "the whole," "every," and similar ideas. When it is used as a noun, we would say "everything." As an adverb, it means "in every way," "on every side," and "altogether."

of -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.

them -- (CW) The word translated as "them" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. This is not the word usually translated as "them."

that -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than as a participle.

sit - Another unique word for Jesus to use is translated as "of them that sit at meat." It means simply "recline together." This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "sitting."

at meat - -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.

with -- This word "to" comes from the indirect object form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.

thee.--- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object of a verb or a preposition.

EACH WORD of NIV

But -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus almost always uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

when -- The Greek word translated as "when" introduces a phrase that explains a certain condition so "whenever" or "since." This is not the more common word for "when." Here, the condition is less certain to happen.

you -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.

are -- This helping verb "are " indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

invited, -- The term translated as "invited" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address."

take -- (WW, WF) The word translated as "take," means, in the passive, used here, to "go," "march," "depart," and "proceed." It is almost always translated as "go" in the NT but Jesus uses it to mean "depart." This word uniquely means "to pursue a course" and "to depart from life." Jesus also uses it for a play on words referring to its "depart from life" meaning. This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "going." This word doesn't mean "take."

the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.