Luke 17:7–18:8

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?”