Luke 17:1–19:27

Temptations to Sin

17And he said to his disciples, ^u“Temptations to sin¹ are ^vsure to come, but ^wwoe to the one through whom they come! ^2xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^{2 3}Pay attention to yourselves! ^yIf your brother sins, ^zrebuke him, and if he repents, ^aforgive him, ⁴and if he sins against you ^bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

^5cThe apostles said to the Lord, ^d“Increase our faith!” ⁶And the Lord said, ^e“If you had faith like ^fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

⁷“Will any one of you who has a servant³ plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? ⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^hdress properly,⁴ and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ⁱunworthy servants;⁵ we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

^11jOn the way to Jerusalem ^khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{6 l}who stood at a distance ¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ⁿpraising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶and ^ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^pa Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^qten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and ^rgive praise to God except this ^sforeigner?” ¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^tyour faith has ^tmade you well.”⁷

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees ^uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^vis not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹nor ^wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”⁸

²²And he said to the disciples, ^x“The days are coming when you will desire ^yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^bin his day.^{9 25}But first ^che must suffer many things and ^cbe rejected by this generation. ^26dJust as it was in the days of ^eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰so will it be ⁱon the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day, ^jlet the one who is on ^kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32lRemember Lot’s wife. ^33mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ⁿkeep it. ³⁴I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35oThere will be two women ^pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{10 37}And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^q“Where the corpse¹¹ is, there the vultures¹² will gather.”

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^ralways to pray and not ^slose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^tneither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^u‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And ^vwill not God give justice to ^whis elect, ^xwho cry to him day and night? ^yzWill he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them ^aspeedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^bwill he find faith on earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹He also told this parable to some ^cwho trusted ^din themselves that they were righteous, ^eand treated others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men ^fwent up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, ^gstanding by himself, prayed^{1 h}thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²ⁱI fast twice a week; ^jI give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³But the tax collector, ^gstanding far off, ^kwould not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^lbeat his breast, saying, ‘God, ^mbe merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ⁿeveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Let the Children Come to Me

^15oNow they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they ^prebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus called them to him, saying, ^q“Let the children come to me, and ^rdo not hinder them, ^qfor to such belongs the kingdom of God. ^17sTruly, I say to you, whoever does not ^treceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

The Rich Ruler

^18uAnd a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ^vinherit eternal life?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: ^w‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” ²¹And he said, ^x“All these I have kept from my youth.” ²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. ^ySell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ^ztreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^23aBut when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, ^b“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter ^cthe kingdom of God! ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^cthe kingdom of God.” ²⁶Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷But he said, ^d“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” ²⁸And Peter said, “See, ^ewe have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^fthere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers² or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive ^gmany times more ^hin this time, and in ⁱthe age to come eternal life.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^31jAnd taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, ^kwe are going up to Jerusalem, and ^leverything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³²For he will be ^mdelivered over to the Gentiles and will be ⁿmocked and shamefully treated and ^ospit upon. ³³And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on ^pthe third day he will rise.” ^34qBut they understood none of these things. ^rThis saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

^35sAs he drew near to Jericho, ^ta blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷They told him, ^u“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸And he cried out, “Jesus, ^vSon of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹And those who were in front ^wrebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ^41x“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴²And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; ^yyour faith has ^zmade you well.” ⁴³And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, ^aglorifying God. And ^ball the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19^cHe entered Jericho and was passing through. ²And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³And ^dhe was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. ⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up into ^ea sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. ⁵And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for ^fI must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he hurried and came down and ^greceived him joyfully. ⁷And when they saw it, they all ^hgrumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ⁸And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods ⁱI give to the poor. And if I have ^jdefrauded anyone of anything, I restore it ^kfourfold.” ⁹And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since ^lhe also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For ^mthe Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because ⁿthey supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. ¹²He said therefore, ^o“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for…