Luke 12:13–14:11

The Story of the Rich Man

¹³Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “tell my brother to divide the family property with me.”

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?”

¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.”

¹⁶Then Jesus told them a story. He said, “A certain rich man’s land produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’

¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my storerooms and build bigger ones. I will store all my grain and my other things in them. ¹⁹I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! This very night I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹“That is how it will be for anyone who stores things away for himself but is not rich in God’s eyes.”

Do Not Worry

²²Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. He said, “I tell you, do not worry. Don’t worry about your life and what you will eat. And don’t worry about your body and what you will wear. ²³There is more to life than eating. There are more important things for the body than clothes.

²⁴“Think about the ravens. They don’t plant or gather crops. They don’t have any storerooms at all. But God feeds them. You are worth much more than birds!

²⁵“Can you add even one hour to your life by worrying? ²⁶You can’t do that very little thing. So why worry about the rest?

²⁷“Think about how the lilies grow. They don’t work or make clothing. But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers. ²⁸If that is how God dresses the wild grass, how much better will he dress you! After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small!

²⁹“Don’t spend time thinking about what you will eat or drink. Don’t worry about it. ³⁰People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father knows that you need them.

³¹“But put God’s kingdom first. Then those other things will also be given to you.

³²“Little flock, do not be afraid. Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell what you own. Give to those who are poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out. Put away riches in heaven that will not be used up. There, no thief can come near it. There, no moth can destroy it. ³⁴Your heart will be where your riches are.

Be Ready

³⁵“Be dressed and ready to serve. Keep your lamps burning. ³⁶Be like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding dinner. When he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.

³⁷“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready when he comes. What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will then dress himself so he can serve them. He will have them take their places at the table. And he will come and wait on them. ³⁸It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready. It will even be good if he comes very late at night.

³⁹“But here is what you must understand. Suppose the owner of the house knew at what hour the robber was coming. He would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him.”

⁴¹Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this story to us, or to everyone?”

⁴²The Lord answered, “Suppose a master puts one of his servants in charge of his other servants. The servant’s job is to give them the food they are to receive at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise manager for this. ⁴³It will be good for the servant if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns. ⁴⁴What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will put that servant in charge of everything he owns.

⁴⁵“But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to come back.’ Suppose he begins to beat the other servants. Suppose he feeds himself. And suppose he drinks until he gets drunk. ⁴⁶The master of that servant will come back on a day the servant doesn’t expect him. He will return at an hour the servant doesn’t know. Then the master will cut him to pieces. He will send him to the place where unbelievers go.

⁴⁷“Suppose a servant knows his master’s wishes. But he doesn’t get ready. And he doesn’t do what his master wants. That servant will be beaten with many blows.

⁴⁸“But suppose the servant does not know his master’s wishes. And suppose he does things for which he should be punished. He will be beaten with only a few blows.

“Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. Even more will be asked of the person who is supposed to take care of much.

Jesus Will Separate People From One Another

⁴⁹“I have come to bring fire on the earth. How I wish the fire had already started! ⁵⁰But I have a baptism of suffering to go through. And I will be very troubled until it is completed.

⁵¹“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you. I have come to separate people. ⁵²From now on there will be five members in a family, each one against the other. There will be three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be separated. Father will turn against son and son against father. Mother will turn against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother-in-law will turn against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Understanding What Is Happening

⁵⁴Jesus spoke to the crowd. He said, “You see a cloud rising in the west. Right away you say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ And it does. ⁵⁵The south wind blows. So you say, ‘It’s going to be hot.’ And it is. ⁵⁶You pretenders! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and the sky. Why can’t you understand the meaning of what is happening right now?

⁵⁷“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸Suppose someone has a claim against you, and you are on your way to court. Try hard to settle the matter on the way. If you don’t, that person may drag you off to the judge. The judge may turn you over to the officer. And the officer may throw you into prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny!”

Jesus Gives a Warning

13Some people who were there at that time told Jesus about certain Galileans. Pilate had mixed their blood with their sacrifices.

²Jesus said, “These people from Galilee suffered greatly. Do you think they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? ³I tell you, no! But unless you turn away from your sins, you will all die too. ⁴Or what about the 18 people in Siloam? They died when the tower fell on them. Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you turn away from your sins, you will all die too.”

⁶Then Jesus told a story. “A man had a fig tree,” he said. “It had been planted in his vineyard. When he went to look for fruit on it, he didn’t find any. ⁷So he went to the man who took care of the vineyard. He said, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree. But I haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸“ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year. I’ll dig around it and feed it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”

Jesus Heals a Disabled Woman on the Sabbath Day

¹⁰Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on a Sabbath day. ¹¹A woman there had been disabled by an evil spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not stand up straight.

¹²Jesus saw her. He asked her to come to him. He said to her, “Woman, you will no longer be disabled. I am about to set you free.” ¹³Then he put his hands on her.

Right away she stood up straight and praised God.

¹⁴Jesus had healed the woman on the Sabbath day. This made the synagogue ruler angry. He told the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days. But do not come on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵The Lord answered him, “You pretenders! Doesn’t each of you go to the barn and untie his ox or donkey on the Sabbath day? Then don’t you lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶This woman is a member of Abraham’s family line. But Satan has kept her disabled for 18 long years. Shouldn’t she be set free on the Sabbath day from what was keeping her disabled?”

¹⁷When Jesus said this, all those who opposed him were put to shame. But the people were delighted. They loved all the wonderful things he was doing.

The Stories of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

¹⁸Then Jesus asked, “What is God’s kingdom like? What can I compare it to? ¹⁹It is like a mustard seed. Someone took the seed and planted it in a garden. It grew and became a tree. The birds sat in its branches.”

²⁰Again he asked, “What can I compare God’s kingdom to? ²¹It is like yeast that a woman used. She mixed it into a large amount of flour. The yeast worked its way all through the dough.”

The Narrow Door

²²Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching the people. He was on his way to Jerusalem. ²³Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, ²⁴“Try very hard to enter through the narrow door. I tell you, many will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵The owner of the house will get up and close the door. Then you will stand outside knocking and begging. You will say, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you. And I don’t know where you come from.’

²⁶“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you. You taught in our streets.’

²⁷“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you. And I don’t know where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil!’

²⁸“You will sob and grind your teeth when you see those who are in God’s kingdom. You will see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets there. But you yourselves will be thrown out. ²⁹People will come from east…