Luke 6–8

Jesus Is Lord over the Sabbath

6One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through some fields of grain. His followers picked the heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. ²Some Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”

³Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? ⁴He went into God’s house and took and ate the holy bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he gave some to the people who were with him.” ⁵Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand

⁶On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man with a crippled right hand was there. ⁷The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were watching closely to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath day so they could accuse him. ⁸But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here in the middle of everyone.” The man got up and stood there. ⁹Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰Jesus looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed.

¹¹But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were very angry and discussed with each other what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses His Apostles

¹²At that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the night praying to God. ¹³The next morning, Jesus called his followers to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: ¹⁴Simon (Jesus named him Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (called the Zealot), ¹⁶Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who later turned Jesus over to his enemies.

Jesus Teaches and Heals

¹⁷Jesus and the apostles came down from the mountain, and he stood on level ground. A large group of his followers was there, as well as many people from all around Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast cities of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸They all came to hear Jesus teach and to be healed of their sicknesses, and he healed those who were troubled by evil spirits. ¹⁹All the people were trying to touch Jesus, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰Jesus looked at his followers and said,

“You people who are poor are blessed,

because the kingdom of God belongs to you.

²¹You people who are now hungry are blessed,

because you will be satisfied.

You people who are now crying are blessed,

because you will laugh with joy.

²²“People will hate you, shut you out, insult you, and say you are evil because you follow the Son of Man. But when they do, you will be blessed. ²³Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward in heaven. Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

²⁴“But how terrible it will be for you who are rich,

because you have had your easy life.

²⁵How terrible it will be for you who are full now,

because you will be hungry.

How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now,

because you will be sad and cry.

²⁶“How terrible when everyone says only good things about you, because their ancestors said the same things about the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷“But I say to you who are listening, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who are cruel to you. ²⁹If anyone slaps you on one cheek, offer him the other cheek, too. If someone takes your coat, do not stop him from taking your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and when someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. ³¹Do to others what you would want them to do to you. ³²If you love only the people who love you, what praise should you get? Even sinners love the people who love them. ³³If you do good only to those who do good to you, what praise should you get? Even sinners do that! ³⁴If you lend things to people, always hoping to get something back, what praise should you get? Even sinners lend to other sinners so that they can get back the same amount! ³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without hoping to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, because he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin. ³⁶Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy.

Look at Yourselves

³⁷“Don’t judge others, and you will not be judged. Don’t accuse others of being guilty, and you will not be accused of being guilty. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and you will receive. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.”

³⁹Jesus told them this story: “Can a blind person lead another blind person? No! Both of them will fall into a ditch. ⁴⁰A student is not better than the teacher, but the student who has been fully trained will be like the teacher.

⁴¹“Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your friend, ‘Friend, let me take that little piece of dust out of your eye’ when you cannot see that big piece of wood in your own eye! You hypocrite! First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your friend’s eye.

Two Kinds of Fruit

⁴³“A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. ⁴⁴Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thornbushes, and they don’t get grapes from bushes. ⁴⁵Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts.

Two Kinds of People

⁴⁶“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? ⁴⁷I will show you what everyone is like who comes to me and hears my words and obeys. ⁴⁸That person is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the floods came, the water tried to wash the house away, but it could not shake it, because the house was built well. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not obey is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. When the floods came, the house quickly fell and was completely destroyed.”

Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant

7When Jesus finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. ²There was an army officer who had a servant who was very important to him. The servant was so sick he was nearly dead. ³When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. ⁴The men went to Jesus and begged him, saying, “This officer is worthy of your help. ⁵He loves our people, and he built us a synagogue.”

⁶So Jesus went with the men. He was getting near the officer’s house when the officer sent friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, because I am not worthy to have you come into my house. ⁷That is why I did not come to you myself. But you only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. ⁸I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, this is the greatest faith I have found anywhere, even in Israel.”

¹⁰Those who had been sent to Jesus went back to the house where they found the servant in good health.

Jesus Brings a Man Back to Life

¹¹Soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his followers and a large crowd traveled with him. ¹²When he came near the town gate, he saw a funeral. A mother, who was a widow, had lost her only son. A large crowd from the town was with the mother while her son was being carried out. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he felt very sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry.” ¹⁴He went up and touched the coffin, and the people who were carrying it stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!” ¹⁵And the son sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶All the people were amazed and began praising God, saying, “A great prophet has come to us! God has come to help his people.”

¹⁷This news about Jesus spread through all Judea and into all the places around there.

John Asks a Question

¹⁸John’s followers told him about all these things. He called for two of his followers ¹⁹and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you with this question: ‘Are you the One who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?’ ”

²¹At that time, Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses, diseases, and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many blind people. ²²Then Jesus answered John’s followers, “Go tell John what you saw and heard here. The blind can see, the crippled can walk, and people with skin diseases are healed. The deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ²³Those who do not stumble in their faith because of me are blessed!”

²⁴When John’s followers left, Jesus began talking to the people about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed ⁿ blown by the wind? ²⁵What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, people who have fine clothes and much wealth live in kings’ palaces. ²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet. ²⁷This was written about him:

‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare the way for you.’

²⁸I tell you, John is greater than any other person…