Luke 17–21
17 And he said to his disciples, u“Temptations to sin1 are vsure to come, but wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 xIt 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, 4 and if he sins against you bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
5 cThe apostles said to the Lord, d“Increase our faith!” 6 And 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.
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’? 8 Will 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’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So 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.’ ”
11 jOn the way to Jerusalem khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,6 lwho stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, npraising God with a loud voice; 16 and ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was pa Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not qten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and rgive praise to God except this sforeigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; tyour faith has tmade you well.”7
20 Being 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, 21 nor wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”8
22 And 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. 23 zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 aFor 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. 26 dJust as it was in the days of eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 fThey 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. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ion the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On 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. 32 lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will nkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 oThere 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
18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ralways to pray and not slose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who tneither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, u‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And vwill not God give justice to whis elect, xwho cry to him day and night? yzWill he delay long over them? 8 I 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
9 He 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. 11 The Pharisee, gstanding by himself, prayed1 hthus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 iI fast twice a week; jI give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But 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!’ 14 I 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.”
15 oNow they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they prebuked them. 16 But 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. 17 sTruly, I say to you, whoever does not treceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
18 uAnd a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to vinherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: w‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21 And he said, x“All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When 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.” 23 aBut when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, b“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter cthe kingdom of God! 25 For 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.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, d“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, ewe have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And 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, 30 who will not receive gmany times more hin this time, and in ithe age to come eternal life.”
Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time
31 jAnd 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. 32 For he will be mdelivered over to the Gentiles and will be nmocked and shamefully treated and ospit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on pthe third day he will rise.” 34 qBut they understood none of these things. rThis saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
35 sAs he drew near to Jericho, ta blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, u“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, vSon of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And 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!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 x“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; yyour faith has zmade you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, aglorifying God. And ball the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
19 cHe entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And dhe was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into ea sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And 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.” 6 So he hurried and came down and greceived him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all hgrumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And 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.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since lhe also is a son of Abraham. 10 For mthe Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
11 As 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. 12 He said therefore, o“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for