49 ^p“I came to cast ^qfire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a ^rbaptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, ^sfather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

54 ^tHe also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

57 ^u“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, ^vmake an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out ^wuntil you have paid the very last penny.”¹

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you ^xrepent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a ^yfig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she ^zglorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are ^asix days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You ^bhypocrites! Does not each of you ^con the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his ^dadversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

18 ^eHe said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the ^fbirds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 ^gAnd again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be ^hfew?” And he said to them, 24 ⁱ“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ^j‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ^k‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. ^lDepart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 ^mIn 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 you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come ⁿfrom east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, ^osome are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod 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 finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a ^pprophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 ^qO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^rkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a ^shen gathers her brood under her wings, and ^tyou were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ^u‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the ^vPharisees, they were ^wwatching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^x“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, ^yhaving a son² or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately ^zpull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a ^aplace of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ^b‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For ^ceveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and ^dhe who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12 ^eHe said also to the man who had invited him, ^f“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers³ or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be ^grepaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the ^hjust.”

15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ⁱ“Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great ^jbanquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant⁴ to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make ^kexcuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ^l‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you,^{5 m}none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

25 ⁿNow great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own ^ofather and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and ^peven his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not ^qbear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and ^rcount the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and ^sdeliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not ^trenounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

34 ^u“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”