Luke 17:7–18:8

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?”