Luke 14–21

Healing of a Man on the Sabbath

14One Sabbath, ^pwhen he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were ^qwatching him carefully. ²And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³And Jesus responded to ^rthe lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^s“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵And he said to them, ^t“Which of you, having a son¹ or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ^6uAnd they could not reply to these things.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

⁷Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed ^vhow they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, ^wso that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹For ^xeveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

¹²He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give ^ya dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers² or your relatives or rich neighbors, ^zlest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³But when you give a feast, ^ainvite ^bthe poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid ^cat ^dthe resurrection of the just.”

¹⁵When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ^e“Blessed is everyone who will ^feat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶But he said to him, ^g“A man once ^hgave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷And at the time for the banquet he ⁱsent his servant³ to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰And another said, ^j‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in ^kthe poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²²And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you,^{4 m}none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”

The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ⁿ“If anyone comes to me and ^odoes not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, ^pyes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ^27qWhoever does not ^rbear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not ^sfirst sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not ^tsit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ^33uSo therefore, any one of you who ^vdoes not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Salt Without Taste Is Worthless

^34w“Salt is good, ^xbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. ^yHe who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15Now ^zthe tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes ^agrumbled, saying, ^b“This man receives sinners and ^ceats with them.”

³So he told them this parable: ^4d“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^eif he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^fin the open country, and ^ggo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, ^hhe lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ⁱI have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^jrepents than over ninety-nine ^krighteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins,¹ if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^lthe angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^mthe share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ⁿhis property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^oreckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to² one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he ^pwas longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“But ^qwhen he ^rcame to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^sI have sinned against ^theaven and before you. ^19uI am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^vran and ^wembraced him and ^xkissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^uI am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{3 22}But the father said to his servants,⁴ ‘Bring quickly ^ythe best robe, and put it on him, and put ^za ring on his hand, and ^ashoes on his feet. ²³And bring ^bthe fattened calf and kill it, and ^clet us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son ^dwas dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^ecelebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, ^fwho has devoured ^gyour property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹And he said to him, ‘Son, ^hyou are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting ^eto celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ⁱwas dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had ^ja manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ²And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your ^kmanagement, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He said, ‘A hundred measures¹ of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures² of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸The master commended the dishonest manager for his ^lshrewdness. For ^mthe sons of this world³ are ^lmore shrewd in dealing with their own generation than ⁿthe sons of light. ⁹And I tell you, ^omake friends for yourselves by means of ^punrighteous wealth,⁴ so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

^10q“One who is ^rfaithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in ^sthat which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ^13pNo servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The Law and…