Luke 12:22–13:21

22  And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on. 23  The life is more than food, and the body than raiment. 24  Consider the ravens, that they sow not nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor granary; and God feeds them. How much better are ye than the birds? 25  But which of you by being careful can add to his stature one cubit? 26  If therefore ye cannot do even what is least, why are ye careful about the rest? 27  Consider the lilies how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I say unto you, Not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these. 28  But if God thus clothe the grass, which to-day is in the field and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much rather you, O ye of little faith? 29  And ye, seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, and be not in anxiety; 30  for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that ye have need of these things; 31  but seek his kingdom, and all these things shall be added to you. 32  Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom. 33  Sell what ye possess and give alms; make to yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure which does not fail in the heavens, where thief does not draw near nor moth destroy. 34  For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. 35  Let your loins be girded about, and lamps burning; 36  and ye like men who wait their own lord whenever he may leave the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. 37  Blessed are those bondmen whom the lord on coming shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them. 38  And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch, and find them thus, blessed are those bondmen. 39  But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be dug through. 40  And ye therefore, be ye ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think it, the Son of man comes.

41  And Peter said to him, Lord, sayest thou this parable to us, or also to all? 42  And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give the measure of corn in season? 43  Blessed is that bondman whom his lord on coming shall find doing thus; 44  verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he has. 45  But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken, 46  the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers. 47  But that bondman who knew his own lord’s will, and had not prepared himself nor done his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; 48  but he who knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom men have committed much, they will ask from him the more. 49  I have come to cast a fire on the earth; and what will I if already it has been kindled? 50  But I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened until it shall have been accomplished! 51  Think ye that I have come to give peace in the earth? Nay, I say to you, but rather division: 52  for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided; three shall be divided against two, and two against three: 53  father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

54  And he said also to the crowds, When ye see a cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say, A shower is coming; and so it happens. 55  And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it happens. 56  Hypocrites, ye know how to judge of the appearance of the earth and of the heaven; how is it then that ye do not discern this time? 57  And why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58  For as thou goest with thine adverse party before a magistrate, strive in the way to be reconciled with him, lest he drag thee away to the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59  I say unto thee, Thou shalt in no wise come out thence until thou hast paid the very last mite.

Chapter 13

1  Now at the same time there were present some who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with that of their sacrifices. 2  And he answering said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered such things? 3  No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in the same manner. 4  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, think ye that they were debtors beyond all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5  No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in like manner.

6  And he spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit upon it and did not find any. 7  And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree and find none: cut it down; why does it also render the ground useless? 8  But he answering says to him, Sir, let it alone for this year also, until I shall dig about it and put dung, 9  and if it shall bear fruit—but if not, after that thou shalt cut it down.

10  And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11  And lo, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent together and wholly unable to lift her head up. 12  And Jesus, seeing her, called to her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13  And he laid his hands upon her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14  But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus healed on the sabbath, answering said to the crowd, There are six days in which people ought to work; in these therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15  The Lord therefore answered him and said, Hypocrites! does not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger and leading it away, water it? 16  And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17  And as he said these things, all who were opposed to him were ashamed; and all the crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things which were being done by him.

18  And he said, To what is the kingdom of God like? and to what shall I liken it? 19  It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of heaven lodged in its branches. 20  And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.