Study Desk

Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had ^(F1)mixed with their sacrifices.

And Jesus responded and said to them, "^(C1)Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate?

"No, I tell you, but unless you ^(F1)repent, you will all likewise perish.

"Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(C1)Siloam fell and killed them were worse ^(F1)(C2)offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?

"No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

And He began telling this parable: "A man had ^(C1)a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

"And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree ^(F1)without finding any. ^(C1)Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'

"But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;

and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"

Now Jesus was ^(C1)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

And ^(F1)there was a woman who for eighteen years had had ^(C1)a ^(F2)sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all.

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

And He ^(C1)laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began ^(C2)glorifying God.

But ^(C1)the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus ^(C2)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, "^(C3)There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day."

But ^(C1)the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, ^(C2)does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?

"And this woman, ^(C1)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom ^(C2)Satan has bound for ^(F1)eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?"

And as He said this, all His opponents were being ^(F1)humiliated; and ^(C1)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

So ^(C1)He was saying, "^(C2)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?

"It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and ^(C1)the birds of the sky nested in its branches."

And again He said, "^(C1)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

"^(C1)It is like ^(F1)leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(C2)three ^(F2)sata of flour until it was all leavened."

And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and ^(C1)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

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

"^(C1)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

"Once the head of the house gets up and ^(C1)shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, '^(C2)Lord, open up to us!' and He then will answer and say to you, '^(C3)I do not know where you are from.'

"Then you will ^(C1)begin saying, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!'

And yet He will ^(F1)say, '^(C1)I do not know where you are from; ^(C2)LEAVE ME, ALL YOU ^(F2)EVILDOERS.'

"^(C1)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.

"And they ^(C1)will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

"And behold, ^(C1)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

At that very time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, "Go away and leave this place, because ^(C1)Herod wants to kill You."

And He said to them, "Go and tell that ^(F1)fox, 'Behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I ^(F2)(C1)reach My goal.'

"Nevertheless ^(C1)I must go on My journey today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a ^(C2)prophet would perish outside Jerusalem.

"^(C1)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(C2)just as a hen gathers her ^(F1)young under her wings, and you were unwilling!

"Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until you say, '^(C1)BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"

It happened that when He went into the house of one of the ^(F1)leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, ^(C1)they were watching Him ^(F2)closely.

And ^(F1)there in front of Him was a man suffering from ^(F2)edema.

And Jesus responded and said to the ^(F1)(C1)lawyers and ^(F2)Pharisees, "^(C2)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"

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

And He said to them, "^(F1)(C1)Which 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?"

^(C1)And they could offer no reply to this.

Now He began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how ^(C1)they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

"Whenever you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ^(C1)do not ^(F1)take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

and the one who invited you ^(F1)both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then ^(C1)in disgrace you will proceed to occupy the last place.

"But whenever you are invited, go and ^(F1)take the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, ^(C1)move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are ^(F2)dining at the table with you.

"^(C1)For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Now He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "Whenever you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you to a meal in return, and that will be your ^(F1)repayment.

"But whenever you give a ^(F1)banquet, invite people who are poor, who have disabilities, who are limping, and people who are blind;

and you will be blessed, since they ^(F1)do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at ^(C1)the resurrection of the righteous."

Now when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "^(C1)Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

But He said to him, "^(C1)A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, because everything is ready now.'

"And yet they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I purchased a field and I need to go out to look at it; ^(F1)please consider me excused.'

"And another one said, 'I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; ^(F1)please consider me excused.'

"And another one said, '^(C1)I took a woman as my wife, and for that reason I cannot come.'

"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 those who are poor, those with disabilities, those who are blind, and those who are limping.'

"And later the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

"And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the roads and the hedges and press upon them to come in, so that my house will be filled.

'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my dinner.'"

Now ^(F1)large crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them,

"^(C1)If anyone comes to Me and does not ^(F1)hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

"Whoever does not ^(C1)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

"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?

"Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him,

saying, 'This person began to build, and was not able to finish!'

"Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and ^(C1)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

"Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace.

"So then, none of you can be My disciple who ^(C1)does not ^(F1)give up all his own possessions.

"Therefore, salt is good; but ^(C1)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be ^(F1)seasoned?

"It is useless either for the soil or the manure pile, so it is thrown out. ^(C1)The one who has ears to hear, ^(F1)let him hear."

Now all the ^(C1)tax collectors and ^(F1)sinners were coming near ^(F2)Jesus to listen to Him.

And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, "This Man receives sinners and ^(C1)eats with them."

And so He told them this parable, saying,

"^(C1)What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the ^(F1)open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

"And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

"And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!'

"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 people who have no need of repentance.

"Or what woman, if she has ten ^(F1)silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

"And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I had lost!'

"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy ^(C1)in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

And He said, "A man had two sons.

"The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me ^(C1)the share of the estate that ^(F1)is coming to me.' And so he divided his ^(F2)(C2)wealth between them.

"And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in ^(F1)wild living.

"Now when he had ^(F1)spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without.

"So he went and ^(F1)hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

"And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything.

"But when he came to ^(F1)his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here ^(F2)from hunger!

'I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and ^(F1)in your sight;

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers."'

"So he set out and came to ^(F1)his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and ^(F2)(C1)embraced him and kissed him.

"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and ^(F1)in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out ^(C1)the best robe and put it on him, and ^(F1)(C2)put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet;

and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let's eat and celebrate;

for this son of mine was ^(C1)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

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

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

"And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.'

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

"But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never ^(F1)neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your ^(F1)(C1)wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.'

"And he said to him, 'Son, you ^(F1)have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.

'But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was ^(C1)dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was ^(F1)reported to him as ^(C1)squandering his possessions.

"And he summoned 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.'

"And the manager said to himself, 'What am I to do, since my ^(F1)master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to ^(F2)dig; I am ashamed to beg.

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

"And he summoned each one of his ^(F1)master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

"And he said, 'A hundred ^(F1)jugs of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred ^(F1)kors of wheat.' He ^(*)said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'

"And his ^(F1)master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of ^(C1)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own ^(F2)kind than the ^(C2)sons of light.

"And I say to you, ^(C1)make friends for yourselves by means of the ^(F1)(C2)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it ^(F2)is all gone, ^(C3)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

"^(C1)The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much.

"Therefore if you have not ^(F1)been faithful in the use of unrighteous ^(F2)(C1)wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you?

"And if you have not ^(F1)been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

"^(C1)No ^(F1)servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^(F2)(C2)wealth."

Now the Pharisees, who were ^(C1)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^(C2)were ^(F1)ridiculing Him.

And He said to them, "You are the ones who ^(C1)justify yourselves in the sight of people, but ^(C2)God knows your hearts; because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.

"^(C1)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John came; since that time ^(C2)the gospel of the kingdom of God ^(F1)has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

"^(C1)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one ^(F1)stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

"^(C1)Everyone who ^(F1)divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is ^(F2)divorced from a husband commits adultery.

"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day.

"And a poor man named Lazarus ^(C1)was laid at his gate, covered with sores,

and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man's table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores.

"Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^(F1)(C1)Abraham's arms; and the rich man also died and was buried.

"And in ^(C1)Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and ^(*)saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his ^(F1)arms.

"And he cried out and said, '^(C1)Father 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 ^(C2)this flame.'

"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that ^(C1)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.

'And ^(F1)besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.'

"And he said, 'Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father's house—

for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^(C1)warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.'

"But Abraham ^(*)said, 'They have ^(F1)(C1)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'

"But he said, 'No, ^(C1)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'

"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.'"