Luke 14–21

A SABBATH CONTROVERSY

14One Sabbath, when he went in to eat^A at the house of one of the leading Pharisees,^z they were watching him closely.^{aa 2}There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. ³In response, Jesus asked the law experts^ab and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”^{ac 4}But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”^{ad 6}They could find no answer to these things.

TEACHINGS ON HUMILITY

⁷He told a parable^ae to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places^af for themselves: ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit in the place of honor, because a more distinguished person^ag than you may have been invited by your host. ⁹The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

¹⁰“But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored^ah in the presence of all the other guests.^{ai 11}For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”^aj

¹²He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. ¹³On the contrary, when you host a banquet,^ak invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.^{al 14}And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid^am at the resurrection of the righteous.”^an

THE PARABLE OF THE LARGE BANQUET

¹⁵When^ao one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”^a

¹⁶Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

¹⁸“But without exception ^Bthey all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰“And another said, ‘I just got married, ^band therefore I’m unable to come.’

²¹“So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’^c

²²“ ‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’

²³“Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’ ”

THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS

²⁵Now^d great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to me^e and does not hate^f his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not bear his own cross^g and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost^h to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹“Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce^A all his possessionsⁱ cannot be my disciple.

³⁴“Now,^j salt^k is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? ³⁵It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”^l

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP

15All^m the tax collectorsⁿ and sinners were approaching to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners^o and eats with them.”

³So he told them this parable:^{p 4}“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them,^q does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field^B and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven^r over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN

⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins,^CD if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ ¹⁰I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels^s over one sinner who repents.”

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SON

¹¹He also said, “A man had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered^t his estate in foolish living.^{u 14}After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.^{B 15}Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.^{v 16}He longed to eat his fill from^C the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything. ¹⁷When he came to his senses,^D he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned^a against heaven^b and in your sight. ¹⁹I’m no longer worthy^c to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.” ’ ²⁰So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.^d He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed^e him. ²¹The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe^f and put it on him; put a ring^g on his finger and sandals^h on his feet. ²³Then bring the fattened calfⁱ and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, ²⁴because this son of mine was dead and is alive again;^j he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he summoned one of the servants, questioning what these things meant. ²⁷‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’^F

²⁸“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets^G with prostitutes,^k you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’

³¹“ ‘Son,’^H he said to him, ‘you are always with me,^l and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

THE PARABLE OF THE DISHONEST MANAGER

16Now he said to the disciples, “There was a rich^m man who received an accusation that his managerⁿ was squandering^o his possessions. ²So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, ^pbecause you can no longer be my manager.’

³“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one.

⁶“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

⁷“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’

“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write eighty.’

⁸“The master praised the unrighteous manager^q because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age^r are more shrewd than the children of light^s in dealing with their own people.^{A 9}And I tell you, make friends^t for yourselves by means of worldly wealth^u so that when it fails,^I they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰Whoever is faithful^v in very little^w is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. ¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No^x servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate^y one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

KINGDOM VALUES

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