Study Desk

So he said to his gardener, ‘Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?'

He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches."

Jesus went through towns and villages, teaching the people and making his way toward Jerusalem.

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors—for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did.

When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!'

The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'

The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons.

After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.

So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs.

At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve!

So he got up and started back to his father. "He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him.

But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!' he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet.

"In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing.

The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in.

But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends!

Jesus said to his disciples, "There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master's money,

So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?'

"Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.