Study Desk

Now a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.

"For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.

Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.

And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!"

Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"

When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

"But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!

"But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.

"They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.'

"For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this Man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner!"

"A moneylender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred denarii, and the other, fifty.

Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

"And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much." As He said these things, He would call out, "The one who has ears to hear, let him hear."

"Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they fall away.

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with perseverance.

"Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light.