Luke 7–8

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

7After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^bhe entered Capernaum. ²Now a centurion had a servant¹ who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³When the centurion² heard about Jesus, ^che sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^d“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^eour synagogue.” ⁶And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^fdo not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^gsay the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard these things, ^hhe marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ⁱfaith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

¹¹Soon afterward³ he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹²As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³And when the Lord saw her, ^khe had compassion on her and ^lsaid to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴Then he came up and touched ^mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ⁿarise.” ¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{4 o}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized them all, and ^pthey glorified God, saying, ^q“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^r“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18stThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^uwho is to come, or ^vshall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^uwho is to come, or ^vshall we look for another?’ ” ²¹In that hour ^whe healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^xon many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^ythe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^zlepers⁵ are cleansed, and ^athe deaf hear, ^bthe dead are raised up, ^cthe poor have good news preached to them. ²³And blessed is the one who is ^dnot offended by me.”

²⁴When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus⁶ began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^einto the wilderness to see? ^fA reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. ²⁶What then did you go out to see? ^gA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written,

^h“ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹(ⁱWhen all the people heard this, and ^jthe tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{7 j}having been baptized with ^kthe baptism of John, ^30lbut the Pharisees and ^mthe lawyers ⁿrejected ^othe purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist has come ^peating no bread and ^qdrinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come ^reating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^sa friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Yet ^twisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36uOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. ^37vAnd behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^wwiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^xthis man were ^ya prophet, he ^zwould have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^adenarii, and the other fifty. ^42bWhen they could not pay, he ^ccancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^dyou gave me no water for my feet, but ^eshe has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45fYou gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^gkiss my feet. ^46hYou did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her sins, ⁱwhich are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸And he said to her, ^j“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹Then those who were at table with him began to say among⁸ themselves, ^k“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ^l“Your faith has saved you; ^mgo in peace.”

Women Accompanying Jesus

8Soon afterward he went on ⁿthrough cities and villages, proclaiming and ^obringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ²and also ^psome women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: ^qMary, called Magdalene, ^rfrom whom seven demons had gone out, ³and ^sJoanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them¹ out of their means.

The Parable of the Sower

^4tAnd when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ^5u“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^vit withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷And some fell among ^wthorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^xa hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^y“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰he said, ^z“To you it has been given to know ^athe secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^bthat ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11cNow the parable is this: The seed is ^dthe word of God. ¹²The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^ebelieve and be saved. ¹³And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^fwith joy. But these have no root; they ^gbelieve for a while, and in time of testing ^hfall away. ¹⁴And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ⁱas they go on their way they are choked by the ^jcares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^kbear fruit ^lwith patience.

A Lamp Under a Jar

^16mn“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. ^17oFor nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ^18pTake care then how you hear, ^qfor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

^19rThen his mother and ^shis brothers² came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those ^twho hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^22uOne day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of ^vthe lake.” So they set out, ²³and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on ^vthe lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and ^wrebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, ^xand there was a calm. ²⁵He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they ^ywere afraid, and they ^zmarveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that ^ahe commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26bThen they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,³ which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷When Jesus⁴ had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long…