Chapter 12

God Knows and Cares

1 Under these circumstances, after 1so many thousands of 2people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “aBeware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 “aBut there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

3 “Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have 1whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon athe housetops.

4 “I say to you, aMy friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

5 “But I will 1warn you whom to fear: afear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into 2bhell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

6 “Are not afive sparrows sold for two 1cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

7 “aIndeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

8 “And I say to you, everyone who aconfesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;

9 but ahe who denies Me before men will be denied bbefore the angels of God.

10 “aAnd everyone who 1speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

11 “When they bring you before athe synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not bworry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say;

12 for athe Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

13 Someone 1in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, “aMan, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

15 Then He said to them, “aBeware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.

17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ayou have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’

20 “But God said to him, ‘aYou fool! This very night 1byour soul is required of you; and cnow who will own what you have prepared?’

21 “So is the man who astores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

22 And He said to His disciples, “aFor this reason I say to you, 1do not worry about your 2life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.

23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

24 “Consider the aravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor bbarn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!

25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single 1ahour to his 2life’s span?

26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even aSolomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

28 “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? aYou men of little faith!

29 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not akeep worrying.

30 “For 1all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

31 “But seek His kingdom, and athese things will be added to you.

32 “aDo not be afraid, blittle flock, for cyour Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

33 “aSell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ban unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

34 “For awhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

35 “1aBe dressed in breadiness, and keep your lamps lit.

36 “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

37 “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find aon the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that bhe will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

38 “aWhether he comes in the 1second watch, or even in the 2third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 “aBut 1be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be 2bbroken into.

40 “aYou too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not 1expect.”

41 Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ato everyone else as well?”

42 And athe Lord said, “bWho then is the faithful and sensible csteward, whom his master will put in charge of his 1servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?

43 “Blessed is that aslave whom his 1master finds so doing when he comes.

44 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

45 “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master 1will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will areceive many lashes,

48 but the one who did not aknow it, and committed deeds worthy of 1a flogging, will receive but few. bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

49 “I 1have come to cast fire upon the earth; and 2how I wish it were already kindled!

50 “But I have a abaptism to 1undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

51 “aDo you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;

52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

53 “They will be divided, afather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

54 And He was also saying to the crowds, “aWhen you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out.

55 “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ahot day,’ and it turns out that way.

56 “You hypocrites! aYou know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but 1why do you not analyze this present time?

57 “And awhy do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?

58 “For awhile you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to 1settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

59 “I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last 1acent.”

Chapter 13

Call to Repent

1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood aPilate had 1mixed with their sacrifices.

2 And Jesus said to them, “aDo you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?

3 “I tell you, no, but unless you 1repent, you will all likewise perish.

4 “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in aSiloam fell and killed them were worse 1bculprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?

5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

6 And He began telling this parable: “A man had aa fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

7 “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree 1without finding any. aCut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’

8 “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;

9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”

Healing on the Sabbath

10 And He was ateaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had aa sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.

12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

13 And He alaid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began bglorifying God.

14 But athe synagogue official, indignant because Jesus bhad healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “cThere are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 But athe Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, bdoes not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?

16 “And this woman, aa daughter of Abraham as she is, whom bSatan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

17 As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and athe entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

18 So aHe was saying, “bWhat is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?

19 “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and athe birds of the 1air nested in its branches.”

20 And again He said, “aTo what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

21 “aIt is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in bthree 1pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

Teaching in the Villages

22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and aproceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

24 “aStrive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

25 “Once the head of the house gets up and ashuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘bLord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘cI do not know where you are from.’

26 “Then you will abegin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;

27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, aI do not know where you are from; bdepart from Me, all you evildoers.’

28 “aIn that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.

29 “And they awill come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

30 “And behold, asome are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

31 Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for aHerod wants to kill You.”

32 And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I 1areach My goal.’

33 “Nevertheless aI must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a bprophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.

34 “aO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, bjust as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!

35 “Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘aBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Chapter 14

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

1 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the 1leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, athey were watching Him closely.

2 And 1there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.

3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the 1alawyers and Pharisees, saying, “bIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.

5 And He said to them, “1aWhich one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

6 aAnd they could make no reply to this.

Parable of the Guests

7 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how athey had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ado not 1take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then ain disgrace you 1proceed to occupy the last place.

10 “But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, amove up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who 1are at the table with you.

11 “aFor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13 “But when you give a 1reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14 and you will be blessed, since they 1do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at athe resurrection of the righteous.”

15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “aBlessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Parable of the Dinner

16 But He said to him, “aA man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’

18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a 1piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; 2please consider me excused.’

19 “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; 1please consider me excused.’

20 “Another one said, ‘aI have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’

21 “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’

22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’

23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’ ”

Discipleship Tested

25 Now 1large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,

26 “aIf anyone comes to Me, and does not 1hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

27 “Whoever does not acarry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,

30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and aconsider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends 1a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who adoes not give up all his own possessions.

34 “Therefore, salt is good; but aif even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. aHe who has ears to hear, 1let him hear.”

Chapter 15

The Lost Sheep

1 Now all the atax collectors and the 1sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.

2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and aeats with them.”

3 So He told them this parable, saying,

4 “aWhat man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the 1open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin

8 “Or what woman, if she has ten 1silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

9 “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’

10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy ain the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Prodigal Son

11 And He said, “A man had two sons.

12 “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me athe share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his 1bwealth between them.

13 “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

14 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

15 “So he went and 1hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16 “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the 1pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

17 “But when he came to 1his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!

18 ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and 1in your sight;

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’

20 “So he got up and came to 1his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and 2aembraced him and kissed him.

21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out athe best robe and put it on him, and bput a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;

23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

24 for this son of mine was adead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

26 “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.

27 “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’

28 “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

29 “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never 1neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your 1awealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you 1have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.

32 ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was adead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

Chapter 16

The Unrighteous Steward

1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was 1reported to him as asquandering his possessions.

2 “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my 1master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

4 ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’

5 “And he summoned each one of his 1master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 “And he said, ‘A hundred 1measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

7 “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred 1measures of wheat.’ He * said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

8 “And his 1master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of athis age are more shrewd in relation to their own 2kind than the bsons of light.

9 “And I say to you, amake friends for yourselves by means of the 1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, cthey will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “aHe who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous 1awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

12 “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

13 “aNo 1servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and 2bwealth.”

14 Now the Pharisees, who were alovers of money, were listening to all these things and bwere scoffing at Him.

15 And He said to them, “You are those who ajustify yourselves 1in the sight of men, but bGod knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable 1in the sight of God.

16 “aThe Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time bthe gospel of the kingdom of God 1has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

17 “aBut it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one 1stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

18 “aEveryone who 1divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is 2divorced from a husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

20 “And a poor man named Lazarus awas laid at his gate, covered with sores,

21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to aAbraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

23 “In aHades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and * saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 “And he cried out and said, ‘aFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in bthis flame.’

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that aduring your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.

26 ‘And 1besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

27 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may awarn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “But Abraham * said, ‘They have aMoses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

30 “But he said, ‘No, afather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’

31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”