Luke 13:22 Jesus went through the towns and
villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a
few be saved?” He replied,
24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to
God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.
25 When the master of the house has locked
the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading,
‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you
come from.’
26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank
with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t
know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’
28“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of
God, but you will be thrown out.
29 And people will come from all over the
world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom
of God.
30 And note this: Some who seem least
important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will
be least important then. ”
31 At that time some Pharisees said to him,
“Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!”
32 Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I
will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the
third day I will accomplish my purpose.
33 Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I
must proceed on my way. For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed
except in Jerusalem!
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city
that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to
gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings,
but you wouldn’t let me.
35 And now, look, your house is abandoned.
And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes
in the name of the !’ ”
Luke
14 NLT
1 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner
in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him
closely.
2 There was a man there whose arms and
legs were swollen.
3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in
religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day,
or not?”
4 When they refused to answer, Jesus
touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away.
5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which
of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit,
don’t you rush to get him out?”
6 Again they could not answer.
7When Jesus noticed that all who had come to
the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table,
he gave them this advice:
8“When you are invited to a wedding feast,
don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than
you has also been invited?
9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this
person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take
whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!
10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the
foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend,
we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the
other guests.
11 For those who exalt themselves will be
humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then he turned to his host. “When you
put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers,
relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be
your only reward.
13Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, and the blind.
14 Then at the resurrection of the
righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table
with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the
Kingdom of God!”
16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man
prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.
17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his
servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’
18 But they all began making excuses. One
said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’
19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five
pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I
can’t come.’
21 “The servant returned and told his
master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into
the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the
blind, and the lame.’
22 After the servant had done this, he
reported, ‘There is still room for more.’
23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the
country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that
the house will be full.
24For none of those I first invited will get
even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He
turned around and said to them,
26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must
hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my
disciple.
27 And if you do not carry your own cross
and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the
cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating
the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
29 Otherwise, you might complete only the
foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.
30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who
started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
31 “Or what king would go to war against
another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether
his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?
32 And if he can’t, he will send a
delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.
33 So you cannot become my disciple without
giving up everything you own.
34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it
loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?
35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the
soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear
should listen and understand!”
Luke
15 NLT
1 Tax collectors and other notorious
sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of
religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even
eating with them!
3 So Jesus told them this story:
4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of
them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the
wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he will
joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
6 When he arrives, he will call together
his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my
lost sheep.’
7 In the same way, there is more joy in
heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over
ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins
and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search
carefully until she finds it?
9 And when she finds it, she will call in
her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my
lost coin.’
10 In the same way, there is joy in the
presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus
told them this story: “A man had two sons.
12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want
my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his
wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son
packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all
his money in wild living.
14 About the time his money ran out, a
great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him,
and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
16 The young man became so hungry that even
the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him
anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he
said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare,
and here I am dying of hunger!
18 I will go home to my father and say,
“Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
19 and I am no longer worthy of being called
your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love
and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have
sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called
your son. ’
22“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick!
Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger
and sandals for his feet.
23 And kill the calf we have been
fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
24 for this son of mine was dead and has
now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the
fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,
26 and he asked one of the servants what
was going on.
27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told,
‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of
his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and
wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him,
29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve
slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And
in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my
friends.
30 Yet when this son of yours comes back
after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the
fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear
son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.
32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For
your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is
found!’”
Luke
16 NLT
1 Jesus
told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a
manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was
wasting his employer’s money.
2 So
the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your
report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The
manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the
strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg.
4 Ah,
I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home
when I am fired.’
5 “So
he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the
situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’
6 The
man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told
him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. ’
7 “‘And
how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000
bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and
change it to 800 bushels. ’
8 “The
rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true
that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world
around them than are the children of the light.
9 Here’s
the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.
Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an
eternal home.
10 “If
you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if
you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater
responsibilities.
11And
if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true
riches of heaven?
12 And
if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted
with things of your own?
13 “No
one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will
be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The
Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.
15 Then
he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your
hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “Until
John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your
guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone
is eager to get in.
17 But
that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and
earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.
18 “For
example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery.
And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
19 Jesus
said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and
fine linen and who lived each day in luxury.
20 At
his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.
21 As
Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would
come and lick his open sores.
22 “Finally,
the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich
man also died and was buried,
23 and
his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in
the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
24 “The
rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to
dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these
flames.’
25 “But
Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had
everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being
comforted, and you are in anguish.
26 And
besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you
from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
27 “Then
the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s
home.
28 For
I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this
place of torment.’
29 “But
Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read
what they wrote.’
30 “The
rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the
dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they
won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone
rises from the dead.’”
Luke
17 NLT
1 One day Jesus said to his disciples,
“There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who
does the tempting!
2 It would be better to be thrown into the
sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little
ones to fall into sin.
3 So watch yourselves! “If another
believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.
4 Even if that person wrongs you seven
times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us
how to increase our faith.”
6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith
even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you
be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
7“When a servant comes in from plowing or
taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’?
8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on
your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’
9 And does the master thank the servant
for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.
10 In the same way, when you obey me you
should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem,
he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.
12 As he entered a village there, ten
lepers stood at a distance,
13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show
yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their
leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was
healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”
16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet,
thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men?
Where are the other nine?
18 Has no one returned to give glory to God
except this foreigner?”
19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and
go. Your faith has healed you. ”
20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When
will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be
detected by visible signs.
21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’
or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. ”
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time
is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but
you won’t see it.
23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there is
the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them.
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights
up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of
Man comes.
25 But first the Son of Man must suffer
terribly and be rejected by this generation.
26 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be
like it was in Noah’s day.
27 In those days, the people enjoyed
banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as it was in the
days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying
and selling, farming and building—
29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then
fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’
right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 On that day a person out on the deck of
a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must
not return home.
32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
33 If you cling to your life, you will lose
it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
34 That night two people will be asleep in
one bed; one will be taken, the other left.
35 Two women will be grinding flour
together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. ”
36
37“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples
asked. Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a
carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”
Luke
18 NLT
1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story
to show that they should always pray and never give up.
2 “There was a judge in a certain city,”
he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.
3 A widow of that city came to him
repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’
4The judge ignored her for a while, but finally
he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,
5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m
going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her
constant requests!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from
this unjust judge.
7Even he rendered a just decision in the end.
So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry
out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will grant justice to
them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the
earth who have faith?”
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who
had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:
10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One
was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed
this prayer : ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For
I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like
that tax collector!
12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a
tenth of my income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a
distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he
beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a
sinner.’
14 I tell you, this sinner, not the
Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves
will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
15 One day some parents brought their
little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the
disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.
16 Then Jesus called for the children and
said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the
Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t
receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this
question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked
him. “Only God is truly good.
20 But to answer your question, you know
the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must
not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’ ”
21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these
commandments since I was young.”
22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said,
“There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give
the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow
me.”
23 But when the man heard this he became
very sad, for he was very rich.
24 When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard
it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!
25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of
God!”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in
the world can be saved?”
27 He replied, “What is impossible for
people is possible with God.”
28 Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to
follow you.”
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you
that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or
children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
30 will be repaid many times over in this
life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”
31 Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus
said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the
prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.
32He will be handed over to the Romans, and he
will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.
33 They will flog him with a whip and kill
him, but on the third day he will rise again.”
34 But they didn’t understand any of this.
The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp
what he was talking about.
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind
beggar was sitting beside the road.
36 When he heard the noise of a crowd going
past, he asked what was happening.
37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene
was going by.
38 So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!”
39 “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled
at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and
ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him,
41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your
sight! Your faith has healed you.”
43 Instantly the man could see, and he
followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.
Luke
19 NLT
1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way
through the town.
2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus.
He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.
3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he
was too short to see over the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at
Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I
must be a guest in your home today.”
6Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus
to his house in great excitement and joy.
7 But the people were displeased. “He has
gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the
Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have
cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to
this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save
those who are lost.”
11 The crowd was listening to everything
Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to
correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.
12 He said, “A nobleman was called away to
a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.
13 Before he left, he called together ten
of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest
this for me while I am gone.’
14 But his people hated him and sent a
delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’
15 “After he was crowned king, he returned
and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find
out what their profits were.
16 The first servant reported, ‘Master, I
invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’
17“‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a
good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you
will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’
18 “The next servant reported, ‘Master, I
invested your money and made five times the original amount.’
19 “‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will
be governor over five cities.’
20 “But the third servant brought back only
the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it
safe.
21 I was afraid because you are a hard man
to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’
22 “‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared.
‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what
isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,
23 why didn’t you deposit my money in the
bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
24 “Then, turning to the others standing
nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the
one who has ten pounds.’
25 “‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already
has ten pounds!’
26 “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those
who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who
do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
27 And as for these enemies of mine who
didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in
front of me.’”
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