Luke 7:1–35

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

^1aWhen He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, ^bHe went to Capernaum.

²And a centurion’s slave, ¹who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.

³When he heard about Jesus, ^ahe sent some ¹Jewish elders asking Him to come and ²save the life of his slave.

⁴When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him;

⁵for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

⁶Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “¹Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;

⁷for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just ¹say the word, and my ²servant will be healed.

⁸“For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

⁹Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, ^anot even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, ¹accompanied by a large crowd.

¹²Now as He approached the gate of the city, ¹a dead man was being carried out, the ²only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.

¹³When ^athe Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “¹Do not weep.”

¹⁴And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

¹⁵The ¹dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

^16aFear gripped them all, and they began ^bglorifying God, saying, “A great ^cprophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has ¹visited His people!”

^17aThis report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

A Deputation from John

^18aThe disciples of John reported to him about all these things.

¹⁹Summoning ¹two of his disciples, John sent them to ^athe Lord, saying, “Are You the ²Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the ¹Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’ ”

²¹At that ¹very time He ^acured many people of diseases and ^bafflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.

²²And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the ^ablind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the ^bpoor have the gospel preached to them.

²³“Blessed is he ¹who does not take offense at Me.”

²⁴When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

²⁵“¹But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft ²clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!

²⁶“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.

²⁷“This is the one about whom it is written,

‘^aBehold, I send My messenger ¹ahead of You,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’

²⁸“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is ¹least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they ¹acknowledged ^aGod’s justice, ^bhaving been baptized with ^cthe baptism of John.

³⁰But the Pharisees and the ^1alawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by ²John.

³¹“To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

³²“They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³“For John the Baptist has come ^aeating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

³⁴“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ¹drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ²sinners!’

³⁵“Yet wisdom ^ais vindicated by all her children.”