Luke 14–21

A Man Suffering from Edema Healed

14And it happened that when he came to the house of a certain one of the leaders of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat a meal,^a they were watching him closely. ²And behold, a certain man was in front of him, suffering from edema. ³And Jesus answered and^* said to the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. And he took hold of him^* and^* healed him, and sent him^* away. ⁵And he said to them, “Who among you, if your^* son or your ox falls into a well^b on the day of the Sabbath, will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶And they were not able to make a reply to these things.

The Parable of the Guests at the Wedding Feast

⁷Now he told a parable to those who had been invited when he^* noticed how they were choosing for themselves the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast,^c do not recline at the table in the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you has been invited by him, ⁹and the one who invited you both^d will come and^* say to you, ‘Give the place to this person,’ and then with shame you will begin to take the last place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and^* recline at the table in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then it will be an honor to you in the presence of all those who are reclining at the table with you. ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

¹²And he also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. ¹³But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed, because they are not able to repay you. For it will be paid back to you at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵Now when^* one of those reclining at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who^e will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶But he said to him, “A certain man was giving a large banquet and invited many. ¹⁷And he sent his slave at the hour of the banquet to say to those who have been invited, ‘Come, because now it is ready!’ ¹⁸And they all alike^f began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field, and I must^g go out to look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ ¹⁹And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, consider me excused.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and for this reason I am not able to come.’ ²¹And the slave came and^* reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and^* said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame!’ ²²And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and press them^* to come in, so that my house will be filled! ²⁴For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!’ ”

The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵Now large crowds were going along with him, and he turned around and^* said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be^h my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry his own cross and followⁱ me cannot be^j my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and^* calculate the cost to see if he has enough^* to complete it?^{k 29}Otherwise^l after^* he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it,^* all who see it^* will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ ³¹Or what king, going out to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and^* deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand. ³²But if not, while^* the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and^* asks for terms of^m peace. ³³In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot beⁿ my disciple.

³⁴“Now salt is good, but if salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be made salty? ³⁵It is usable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to hear him. ²And both the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

³So he told them this parable, saying, ⁴“What man of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the grassland and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he^* has found it,^* he places it^* on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he^* returns to his^* home, he calls together his^* friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ ⁷I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸Or what woman who has ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?^{* 9}And when she^* has found it,^* she calls together her^* friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma that I had lost!’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹And he said, “A certain man had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his^* father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me.’ So he divided his^* assets between them. ¹³And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything and^* went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth by^* living wastefully. ¹⁴And after^* he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵And he went and^* hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. ¹⁶And he was longing to fill his stomach with^a the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving anything^* to him.

¹⁷“But when he^* came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have an abundance of food,^b and I am dying here from hunger! ¹⁸I will set out and^* go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight!^{c 19}I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.’ ²⁰And he set out and^* came to his own father. But while^* he was still a long way away, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him^d and kissed him. ²¹And his^* son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight!^e I am no longer worthy to be called your son!’ ²²But his^* father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it^* on him, and put a ring on his finger^f and sandals on his^* feet! ²³And bring the fattened calf—kill it^* and let us eat and^* celebrate, ²⁴because this son of mine was 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 when he came and^* approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he summoned one of the slaves 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 gotten him back healthy.’ ²⁸But he became angry and did not want to go in. So his father came out and^* began to implore^* him. ²⁹But he answered and^* said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your command! And you never gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! ³⁰But when this son of yours returned—who has consumed your assets with prostitutes—you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹But he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and everything I have belongs to you.^{g 32}But it was necessary to celebrate and to rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead, and is alive, and was lost, and is found!’ ”

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16And he also said to the disciples, “A certain man was rich, who had a manager. And charges were brought to him that this person was squandering his possessions. ²And he summoned him and^* said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give the account of your management, because you can no longer manage.’ ³And the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, because my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!’ ⁵And he summoned each one of his own master’s debtors and^* said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶And he said, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and sit down quickly and^* write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and write eighty.’ ⁸And the master praised the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light with regard to their own generation.^{a 9}And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when…