Luke 17–19

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

17And he said to his disciples, “It is impossible for causes for stumbling not to come, but woe to him through whom they come! ²It would be better for him if a millstone^a is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea than that he causes one of these little ones to sin.

³“Be concerned about yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times he returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶So the Lord said, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷“And which of you who has a slave plowing or shepherding sheep^* who comes in from the field will say to him, ‘Come here at once and^* recline at the table’? ⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something that I may eat, and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and after these things you will eat and drink.’ ⁹He will not be grateful^b to the slave because he did what was ordered, will he?^{* 10}Thus you also, when you have done all the things you were ordered to do,^c say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.’ ”

Ten Lepers Cleansed

¹¹And it happened that while traveling toward Jerusalem, he was passing through the region between^d Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as^* he was entering into a certain village, ten men met him^*e—lepers, who stood at a distance. ¹³And they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴And when he^* saw them^* he said to them, “Go and^* show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵But one of them, when he^* saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷So Jesus answered and^* said, “Were not ten cleansed? And where are the nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to turn back and^* give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And he said to him, “Get up and^* go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

²⁰Now when he^* was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with things that can be observed,^{f 21}nor will they say, ‘Behold, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

The Coming of the Son of Man

²²And he said to the disciples, “Days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.^{* 23}And they will say to you, ‘Behold, there!’ ‘Behold, here!’^g Do not go out or run after them!^{* 24}For just as the lightning shines forth, flashing from one place under heaven to another place under heaven, so the Son of Man will be in his day. ²⁵But first it is necessary for him to suffer many things, and to be rejected by this generation. ²⁶And just as it was in the days of Noah, so also it will be in the days of the Son of Man—²⁷they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. ²⁹But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰It will be just the same^h on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day, whoever is on the housetop and his goods are in the house must not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. ³²Remember Lot’s wife! ³³Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it^* will keep it. ³⁴I tell you that in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵There will be two women^* grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.”ⁱ

³⁷And they answered and^* said to him, “Where, Lord?” So he said to them, “Where the dead body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

The Parable of the Unjust Judge

18And he told them a parable to show that they must always pray and not be discouraged, ²saying, “There was a certain judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not respect people. ³And there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary!’ ⁴And he was not willing for a time, but after these things he said to himself, ‘Even if I do not fear God or respect people, ⁵yet because this widow is causing trouble for me, I will grant her justice, so that she does not wear me down in the end by her^* coming back!’ ” ⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge is saying! ⁷And will not God surely see to it that justice is done^a to his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night, and will he delay toward them? ⁸I tell you that he will see to it that justice is done^b for them soon! Nevertheless, when^* the Son of Man comes, then will he find faith on earth?”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹And he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on everyone else:^{c 10}“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and^* prayed these things with reference to himself: ‘God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.’ ¹³But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Little Children Brought to Jesus

¹⁵Now they were bringing even their^* babies to him so that he could touch them. But when^* the disciples saw it,^* they rebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus called them to himself, saying, “Allow the children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for to such belongs^d the kingdom of God. ¹⁷Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.”

A Rich Young Man

¹⁸And a certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, by^* doing what will I inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ ”^{e 21}And he said, “All these I have observed from my^f youth.” ²²And when he^* heard this,^* Jesus said to him, “You still lack one thing:^g Sell all that you have, and distribute the proceeds^* to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” ²³But when he^* heard these things he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

²⁴And Jesus took notice of him^h and^* said, “How difficult it is forⁱ those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God. ²⁶So those who heard this^* said, “And who can be saved?” ²⁷But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

²⁸And Peter said, “Behold, we have left all that is ours^j and^* followed you.” ²⁹And he said to them, “Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children on account of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time

³¹And taking aside the twelve, he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written by the prophets with reference to the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³²For he will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and mistreated and spit on, ³³and after^* flogging him^* they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴And they understood none of these things, and this saying was concealed from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

A Blind Man Healed at Jericho

³⁵Now it happened that as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting on the side of the road begging. ³⁶And when he^* heard a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷And they told him, “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by.” ³⁸And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹And those who were in front rebuked him, that he should be silent, but he cried out even more loudly,^k “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰So Jesus stopped and^* ordered him to be brought to him. And when^* he approached, he asked him, ⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, that I may regain my sight. ⁴²And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight! Your faith has saved you.” ⁴³And immediately he regained his sight and began to follow^* him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they^* saw it,^* gave praise to God.

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19And he entered and^* traveled through Jericho. ²And there was^a a man named^b Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³And he was seeking to see Jesus—who he was—and he was not able to as a result of the crowd, because he was short in stature. ⁴And he ran on ahead and^* climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to go through that way. ⁵And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and^* said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary for me to stay at your house…