Luke 9:51–19:48

A Town Rejects Jesus

⁵¹When the time was coming near for Jesus to depart, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. ⁵³But the people there would not welcome him, because he was set on going to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When James and John, followers of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy those people?” ⁿ

⁵⁵But Jesus turned and scolded them. And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. ⁵⁶The Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of people but to save them.” ⁿ Then they went to another town.

Following Jesus

⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you any place you go.”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “The foxes have holes to live in, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.”

⁵⁹Jesus said to another man, “Follow me!”

But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are dead bury their own dead. You must go and tell about the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another man said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”

⁶²Jesus said, “Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10After this, the Lord chose seventy-two ⁿ others and sent them out in pairs ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. ²He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest. ³Go now, but listen! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. ⁴Don’t carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don’t waste time talking with people on the road. ⁵Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ ⁶If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. ⁷Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t move from house to house. ⁸If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat what they give you. ⁹Heal the sick who live there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ ¹⁰But if you go into a town, and the people don’t welcome you, then go into the streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. ⁿ But remember that the kingdom of God is near.’ ¹²I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom ⁿ than for the people of that town.

Jesus Warns Unbelievers

¹³“How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, ⁿ those people would have changed their lives long ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. ¹⁴But on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, ⁿ will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the depths!

¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me.”

Satan Falls

¹⁷When the seventy-two ⁿ came back, they were very happy and said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”

¹⁸Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you. ²⁰But you should not be happy because the spirits obey you but because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Prays to the Father

²¹Then Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. Yes, Father, this is what you really wanted.

²²“My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell.”

²³Then Jesus turned to his followers and said privately, “You are blessed to see what you now see. ²⁴I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not.”

The Good Samaritan

²⁵Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”

²⁶Jesus said, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”

²⁷The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” ⁿ Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ⁿ

²⁸Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”

²⁹But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. ³¹It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. ³²Next, a Levite ⁿ came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. ³³Then a Samaritan ⁿ traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. ³⁴The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine ⁿ on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. ³⁵The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins, ⁿ gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’ ”

³⁶Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”

³⁷The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Then go and do what he did.”

Mary and Martha

³⁸While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. ³⁹Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. ⁴⁰But Martha was busy with all the work to be done. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. ⁴²Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”

Jesus Teaches About Prayer

11One time Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his followers said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his followers.”

²Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, may your name always be kept holy.

May your kingdom come.

³Give us the food we need for each day.

⁴Forgive us for our sins,

because we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.

And do not cause us to be tempted.’ ” ⁿ

Continue to Ask

⁵Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house at midnight and said to him, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread. ⁶A friend of mine has come into town to visit me, but I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, if friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread, your boldness will make him get up and give you whatever you need. ⁹So I tell you, ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. ¹⁰Yes, everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened. ¹¹If your children ask for ⁿ a fish, which of you would give them a snake instead? ¹²Or, if your children ask for an egg, would you give them a scorpion? ¹³Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus’ Power Is from God

¹⁴One time Jesus was sending out a demon who could not talk. When the demon came out, the man who had been unable to speak, then spoke. The people were amazed. ¹⁵But some of them said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, to force demons out of people.”

¹⁶Other people, wanting to test Jesus, asked him to give them a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And a family that is divided against itself will not continue. ¹⁸So if Satan is divided against himself, his kingdom will not continue. You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. ¹⁹But if I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, what power do your people use to force demons out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I use the power of God to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

²¹“When a strong person with many weapons guards his own house, his possessions are safe. ²²But when someone stronger comes and defeats him, the stronger one will take away the weapons the first man trusted and will give away the possessions.

²³“Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not work with me is working against me.

The Empty Person

²⁴“When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But when it finds no place, it says, ‘I will go back to the house I left.’ ²⁵And when it comes back, it finds that house swept clean and made neat. ²⁶Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more…