Bible in 90 Days

Jesus sends out the seventy

10 After this the master commissioned seventy others, and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he was intending to come.

² “There’s a great harvest out there,” he said to them, “but there aren’t many workers. So plead with the harvest-master to send out workers for the harvest.

³ “Off you go now. Remember, I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Take no money-bag, no pack, no sandals—and don’t stop to pass the time with anyone on the road. ⁵ Whenever you go into a house, first say, ‘Peace on this house.’ ⁶ If a child of peace lives there, your peace will rest on them; but if not, it will return to you.

⁷ “Stay in the same house, and eat and drink what they provide. The worker deserves to be paid, you see. Don’t go from house to house. ⁸ If you go into a town and they welcome you, eat what is provided, ⁹ heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom has come close to you.’ ¹⁰ But if you go into a town and they don’t welcome you, go out into the streets of the town and say, ¹¹ ‘Here is the very dust of your town clinging to our feet—and we’re wiping it off in front of your eyes! ¹² But you should know this: God’s kingdom has come close to you!’ Let me tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

¹³ “Woe betide you, Chorazin! Woe betide you, Bethsaida! If the powerful deeds done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum—you want to be lifted up to heaven, do you? No: you’ll be sent down to Hades!

¹⁶ “Anyone who hears you, hears me; anyone who rejects you, rejects me; and anyone who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”

The celebration of Jesus

¹⁷ The seventy came back exhilarated.

“Master,” they said, “even the demons obey us in your name!”

¹⁸ “I saw the satan fall like lightning from heaven,” he replied. ¹⁹ “Look: I’ve given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over every power of the enemy. Nothing will ever be able to harm you. ²⁰ But—don’t celebrate having spirits under your authority. Celebrate this, that your names are written in heaven.”

²¹ Then and there Jesus celebrated in the holy spirit.

“I thank you, Father,” he said, “Lord of heaven and earth! You hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to babies. Yes, Father, that was what you graciously decided. ²² Everything has been given me by my father. Nobody knows who the son is except the father, and nobody knows who the father is except the son, and anyone to whom the son wishes to reveal him.”

²³ Jesus then turned to the disciples privately.

“A blessing on the eyes,” he said, “which see what you see! ²⁴ Let me tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and they didn’t see it; and to hear what you hear, and they didn’t hear it!”

The parable of the good Samaritan

²⁵ A lawyer got up and put Jesus on the spot.

“Teacher,” he said, “what should I do to inherit the life of the coming age?”

²⁶ “Well,” replied Jesus, “what is written in the law? What’s your interpretation of it?”

²⁷ “You shall love the Lord your God,” he replied, “with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your understanding; and your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸ “Well said!” replied Jesus. “Do that and you will live.”

²⁹ “Ah,” said the lawyer, wanting to win the point, “but who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus rose to the challenge. “Once upon a time,” he said, “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was set upon by brigands. They stripped him and beat him and ran off leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down that road, and when he saw him he went past on the opposite side. ³² So too a Levite came by the place; he saw him too, and went past on the opposite side.

³³ “But a traveling Samaritan came to where he was. When he saw him he was filled with pity. ³⁴ He came over to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. Then he put him on his own beast, took him to an inn, and looked after him. ³⁵ The next morning, as he was going on his way, he gave the innkeeper two dinars. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my way back I’ll pay you whatever else you need to spend on him.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think turned out to be the neighbor of the man who was set upon by the brigands?”

³⁷ “The one who showed mercy on him,” came the reply.

“Well,” Jesus said to him, “you go and do the same.”

Martha and Mary

³⁸ On their journey, Jesus came into a village. There was a woman there named Martha, who welcomed him. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the master’s feet and listened to his teaching.

⁴⁰ Martha was frantic with all the work in the kitchen.

“Master,” she said, coming in to where they were, “don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to give me a hand!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” he replied, “you are fretting and fussing about so many things. ⁴² Only one thing matters. Mary has chosen the best part, and it’s not going to be taken away from her.”

The Lord’s Prayer

11 Once Jesus was praying in a particular place. When he had finished, one of his disciples approached him.

“Teach us to pray, Master,” he said, “just like John taught his disciples.”

² “When you pray,” replied Jesus, “this is what to say:

“Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; ³ give us each day our daily bread; ⁴ and forgive us our sins, since we too forgive all our debtors; and don’t put us to the test.

⁵ “Suppose one of you has a friend,” he said, “and you go to him in the middle of the night and say, ‘My dear friend, lend me three loaves of bread! ⁶ A friend of mine is on a journey and has arrived at my house, and I have nothing to put in front of him!’ ⁷ He will answer from inside his house, ‘Don’t make life difficult for me! The door is already shut, and my children and I are all in bed! I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ Let me tell you, even if he won’t get up and give you anything just because you’re his friend, because of your shameless persistence he will get up and give you whatever you need.

⁹ “So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them! ¹¹ If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? ¹³ So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

¹⁴ Jesus was casting out a demon that prevented speech. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been silent spoke, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons!” ¹⁶ Others, trying to test him out, asked him to produce a sign from heaven.

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking.

“Every kingdom split down the middle goes to ruin,” he said. “If a house turns in on itself, it falls. ¹⁸ Well then: if even the satan is split down the middle, how can his kingdom last? This,” he added, “is because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul!

¹⁹ “Now look: supposing I do cast out demons by Beelzebul, whose power are your own people using when they cast them out? Think about it: they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if it’s by God’s finger that I cast out demons, then God’s kingdom has come upon you.

²¹ “Imagine a strong man, armed to the teeth, guarding his palace. Everything he owns is safe and sound. ²² But supposing someone stronger comes and overpowers him, and takes away the armor he was trusting in—then he can help himself and start dividing up the plunder! ²³ If you’re not with me, you’re against me. If you’re not gathering with me, you’re scattering.

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit goes out of a person, it roams through desert landscapes looking for a place to rest. When it doesn’t find anywhere, it says to itself, ‘I shall go back to the house I left behind.’ ²⁵ And it finds the place neat and tidy. ²⁶ So it sets off and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and goes back to live there. That person will end up worse off than he began.”

²⁷ While he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice. “A blessing on the womb that bore you,” she shouted, “and the breasts that you sucked!”

²⁸ “On the contrary,” replied Jesus. “A blessing on those who hear God’s word and keep it!”

The sign of Jonah

²⁹ The crowds kept increasing. Jesus began to say to them, “This generation is an evil generation! It looks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

³⁰ “Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh; just so, the son of man will be a sign to this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them: she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and look—something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it: they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look—something greater than Jonah is here.

³³ “Nobody lights a lamp in order to hide it or put it under a jug. They put it on a lampstand, so that people who come in can see the light.

³⁴ “Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is focused, your whole body is full of light. But if it’s evil, your body is in darkness. ³⁵ Watch out, then, in case the light inside you turns to darkness. ³⁶ If your whole body is illuminated, with no part in darkness, everything will be illuminated, just as you are by a flash of lightning.”

³⁷ While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to have dinner at his house. So he went in and sat down. ³⁸ The Pharisee, watching him, was surprised that he didn’t first wash before dinner.

³⁹ “Now, you Pharisees,” said the master to him, “you clean the outside of the plate and the cup, but your insides are full of violent robbery and wickedness. ⁴⁰ That’s stupid! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? ⁴¹ You should give for alms what’s inside the bowl, and then everything will be clean for you.”

Woes against the Pharisees

⁴² “But woe betide you Pharisees!” Jesus continued. “You tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds; and you have sidestepped justice and the love of God. You should have done these, without missing out the others.

⁴³ “Woe betide you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places.

⁴⁴ “Woe betide you! You are like hidden tombs, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

⁴⁵ At this, one of the legal experts spoke up. “Teacher,” he said, “when you say this you’re insulting us too!”

⁴⁶ “Woe betide you lawyers, too!” replied Jesus. “You give people heavy loads to carry which they can hardly bear, and you yourselves don’t lift a finger to help!

⁴⁷ “Woe betide you! You build the tombs of the prophets, and your ancestors killed them. ⁴⁸ So you bear witness that you approve of what your ancestors did: they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹ “For all this, God’s Wisdom says, ‘I’m sending you prophets and ambassadors; some of them you will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets shed ever since the beginning of the world may be required from this generation— ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, let me tell you, it will all be required from this generation.

⁵² “Woe betide you lawyers! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and when people were trying to get in you stopped them.”

⁵³ He went outside, and the scribes and Pharisees began to be very threatening towards him. They interrogated him about several things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.

Further warnings

12 Crowds were gathering in their thousands, so much so that they were trampling on each other. Jesus began to say to his disciples, “Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees—I mean, their hypocrisy. This is a matter of first importance.

² “Nothing is concealed that won’t be uncovered; nothing is hidden that won’t be made known. ³ So whatever you say in the darkness will be heard in the light, and whatever you speak indoors into someone’s ear will be proclaimed from the housetops.

⁴ “So, my friends, I have this to say to you: don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do. ⁵ I will show you who to fear: fear the one who starts by killing and then has the right to throw people into Gehenna. Yes, let me tell you, that’s the one to fear!

⁶ “How much do five sparrows cost? Two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten in God’s presence. ⁷ But the hairs of your head have all been counted. Don’t be afraid! You are worth more than lots of sparrows.

⁸ “Let me tell you: if anyone acknowledges me before others, the son of man will acknowledge that person before God’s angels. ⁹ But if anyone denies me before others, that person will be denied before God’s angels.

¹⁰ “Everyone who speaks a word against the son of man will have it forgiven; but the one who blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ “When they bring you before synagogues, rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to give an answer or what to say. ¹² The holy spirit will teach you what to say at that very moment.”

The parable of the rich fool

¹³ Someone from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!”

¹⁴ “Tell me, my good man,” replied Jesus, “who appointed me as a judge or arbitrator over you?

¹⁵ “Watch out,” he said to them, “and beware of all greed! Your life doesn’t consist of the sum total of your possessions.”

¹⁶ He told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a fine harvest. ¹⁷ ‘What shall I do?’ he said to himself. ‘I don’t have enough room to store my crops!

¹⁸ “ ‘I know!’ he said. ‘I’ll pull down my barns—and I’ll build bigger ones! Then I’ll be able to store all the corn and all my belongings there. ¹⁹ And I shall say to my soul, Soul, you’ve got many good things stored up for many years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, have a good time!’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you! Now who’s going to have all the things you’ve got ready?’ ²¹ That’s how it is with someone who stores up things for himself and isn’t rich before God.

²² “So let me tell you this,” he said to the disciples. “Don’t be anxious about your life—what you should eat; or about your body—what you should wear. ²³ Life is more than food! The body is more than clothing! ²⁴ Think about the ravens: they don’t sow seed, they don’t gather harvests, they don’t have storehouses or barns; and God feeds them. How much more will he feed you! Think of the difference between yourselves and the birds!

²⁵ “Which of you by being anxious can add a day to your lifetime? ²⁶ So if you can’t even do a little thing like that, why worry about anything else? ²⁷ Think about the lilies and the way they grow. They don’t work hard, they don’t weave cloth; but, let me tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed up like one of them. ²⁸ So if that’s how God clothes the grass in the field—here today, into the fire tomorrow—how much more will he clothe you, you little-faith lot!

²⁹ “So don’t you go hunting about for what to eat or what to drink, and don’t be anxious. ³⁰ The nations of the world go searching for all that stuff, and your father knows you need it. ³¹ This is what you should search for: God’s kingdom! Then all the rest will be given you as well. ³² Don’t be afraid, little flock. Your father is delighted to give you the kingdom.

³³ “Sell your possessions and give alms. Make yourselves purses that don’t wear out, a treasure in heaven that lasts forever, where the thief doesn’t come near and the moth doesn’t destroy. ³⁴ Yes: where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be too.”

Jesus’ call to watchfulness

³⁵ “Make sure you’re dressed and ready with your lamps alight,” said Jesus. ³⁶ “You need to be like people waiting for their master when he comes back from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks they will be able to open the door for him at once. ³⁷ A blessing on the servants whom the master finds awake when he comes! I’m telling you the truth: he will put on an apron and sit them down and come and wait on them. ³⁸ A blessing on them if he comes in the second watch of the night, or even the third, and finds them like that!

³⁹ “But you should know this: if the householder had known what time the thief was coming, he wouldn’t have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You too should be ready, because the son of man is coming at a time you don’t expect.”

⁴¹ “Master,” said Peter, “are you telling this parable for us, or for everyone?”

⁴² “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,” said Jesus, “whom the master will set over all his household, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? ⁴³ A blessing on the servant that his master, when he comes, finds doing just that! ⁴⁴ I’m telling you truly, he will install him as manager over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time over coming back,’ and begins to beat the slaves and slave-girls, to eat and drink and get drunk— ⁴⁶ then the master of that servant will come on a day he doesn’t expect him to, and at a moment he didn’t imagine, and he will cut him in two. He will give him the same place as the unbelievers.

⁴⁷ “If a servant knew what the master wanted, and didn’t get ready, or do what was wanted, the punishment will be a severe beating. ⁴⁸ If the servant didn’t know, and did what deserved a beating, it will be a light beating. Much will be required from one who is given much; if someone is entrusted with much, even more will be expected in return.”

Reading the signs of the times

⁴⁹ “I came to throw fire upon the earth,” Jesus continued, “and I wish it were already alight! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and I am under huge pressure until it’s happened!

⁵¹ “Do you suppose I’ve come to give peace to the earth? No, let me tell you, but rather division. ⁵² From now on, you see, families will be split down the middle: three against two in a family of five, and two against three, ⁵³ father 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 “When you see a cloud rising in the west,” he said to the crowds, “you say at once, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and rain it does. ⁵⁵ When you see the south wind getting up, you say, ‘It’s going to be very hot,’ and that’s what happens. ⁵⁶ You impostors! You know how to work out what the earth and the sky are telling you; why can’t you work out what’s going on at this very moment?

⁵⁷ “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what you ought to do? ⁵⁸ When you go with your accuser before a magistrate, do your best to reach a settlement with him. Otherwise he may drag you in front of the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the officer, and the officer will throw you into jail. ⁵⁹ Let me tell you, you won’t get out from there until you have paid the very last coin.”

The parable of the fig tree

13 At that moment some people came up and told them the news. Some Galileans had been in the Temple, and Pilate had mixed their blood with that of the sacrifices.

² Jesus’ response was this. “Do you suppose,” he said, “that those Galileans suffered such things because they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? ³ No, let me tell you! Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.

⁴ “And what about those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam collapsed on top of them? Do you imagine they were more blameworthy than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, let me tell you! Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.”

⁶ He told them this parable. “Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit, and didn’t find any. ⁷ So he said to the gardener, ‘Look here! I’ve been coming to this fig tree for three years hoping to find some fruit, and I haven’t found any! Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “ ‘I tell you what, Master,’ replied the gardener; ‘let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all round it and put on some manure. ⁹ Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

Jesus heals a crippled woman on the sabbath

¹⁰ One sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. ¹¹ There was a woman there who had had a spirit of weakness for eighteen years. She was bent double, and couldn’t stand fully upright. ¹² Jesus saw her and called to her.

¹³ “Woman,” he said, laying his hands on her, “you are freed from your affliction.” And at once she stood upright, and praised God.

¹⁴ The synagogue president was angry that Jesus had healed on the sabbath.

“Look here,” he said to the crowd, “there are six days for people to work! Come on one of those days and be healed, not on the sabbath day!”

¹⁵ “You bunch of hypocrites!” replied Jesus. “You would all be quite happy to untie an ox or a donkey from its stall on the sabbath day and lead it out for a drink! ¹⁶ And isn’t it right that this daughter of Abraham, tied up by the satan for these eighteen years, should be untied from her chains on the sabbath day?”

¹⁷ At that, all the people who had been opposing him were ashamed. The whole crowd was overjoyed at all the splendid things he was doing.

¹⁸ So Jesus said, “What is God’s kingdom like? What shall we compare it with? ¹⁹ It’s like a mustard seed that someone took and placed in his garden. It grew, and became a tree, and the birds of the sky made nests in its branches.”

²⁰ And again he said, “What shall we say God’s kingdom is like? ²¹ It’s like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole thing was leavened.”

Entering through the narrow door

²² Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, making his way towards Jerusalem.

²³ “Master,” somebody said to him, “will there be only a few that are saved?”

²⁴ “Struggle hard,” Jesus replied, “to get in by the narrow gate. Let me tell you: many will try to get in and won’t be able to. ²⁵ When the householder gets up and shuts the door—at that moment you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door and say, ‘Master, open the door for us.’ Then he will say in response, ‘I don’t know where you’ve come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate with you and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ ²⁷ And he will say to you, ‘I don’t know where you people are from. Be off with you, you wicked lot.’

²⁸ “That’s where you’ll find weeping and gnashing of teeth: when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in God’s kingdom, and you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ People will come from East and West, from North and South, and sit down to feast in God’s kingdom. ³⁰ And, listen to this: some who are last will be first, and some of the first will be last.”

Jesus grieves over Jerusalem

³¹ Just then some Pharisees came up and spoke to Jesus.

“Get away from here,” they said, “because Herod wants to kill you.”

³² “Go and tell that fox,” replied Jesus, “ ‘Look here: I’m casting out demons today and tomorrow, and completing my healings. I’ll be finished by the third day. ³³ But I have to continue my travels today, tomorrow and the day after that! It couldn’t happen that a prophet would perish away from Jerusalem.’

³⁴ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets, and stone the people sent to you! How many times did I want to collect your children, like a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would have none of it! ³⁵ Look, your house has been abandoned. Let me tell you this: you will never see me until you are prepared to say, ‘Welcome with a blessing in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Jesus and the Pharisee

14 One sabbath, Jesus went to a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee. They were keeping a close eye on him.

² There was a man there in front of Jesus who suffered from dropsy. ³ So Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath or not?” ⁴ They remained silent. He took the man, healed him, and dismissed him.

⁵ Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a son—or an ox!—that falls into a well. Are you going to tell me you won’t pull him out straight away on the sabbath day?” ⁶ They had no answer for that.

⁷ He noticed how the guests chose the best seats, and told them this parable.

⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast,” he said, “don’t go and sit in the best seat, in case some other guest more important is invited, ⁹ and the person who invited you both comes and says to you, ‘Please move down for this man,’ and you will go to the end of the line covered with embarrassment. ¹⁰ Instead, when someone invites you, go and sit down at the lowest place. Then, when your host arrives, he will say to you, ‘My dear fellow! Come on higher up!’ Then all your fellow guests will show you respect. ¹¹ All who push themselves forward, you see, will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be honored.”

The parable of the great banquet

¹² He then turned to his host. “When you give a lunch or a supper,” he said, “don’t invite your friends or your family or relatives, or your rich neighbors. They might ask you back again, and you’d be repaid. ¹³ When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. ¹⁴ God will bless you, because they have no way to repay you! You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵ One of the guests heard this, and commented, “A blessing on those who eat food in God’s kingdom!”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Once a man made a great dinner, and invited lots of guests. ¹⁷ When the time for the meal arrived, he sent his servant to say to the guests, ‘Come now—everything’s ready!’ ¹⁸ But the whole pack of them began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I’ve just bought a field, and I really have to go and see it. Please accept my apologies.’ ¹⁹ Another one said, ‘I’ve just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’ve got to go and test them out—please accept my apologies.’ ²⁰ And another one said, ‘I’ve just got married, so naturally I can’t come.’ ²¹ So the servant went back and told his master all this. The householder was cross, and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.’ ²² ‘All right, Master,’ said the servant, ‘I’ve done that—but there’s still room.’ ²³ ‘Well then,’ said the master to the servant, ‘go out into the roads and hedgerows and make them come in, so that my house may be full! ²⁴ Let me tell you this: none of those people who were invited will get to taste my dinner.’ ”

The cost of discipleship

²⁵ A large crowd was gathering around him. Jesus turned to face them.

²⁶ “If any of you come to me,” he said to them, “and don’t hate your father and your mother, your wife and your children, your brothers and your sisters—yes, and even your own life!—you can’t be my disciple. ²⁷ If you don’t pick up your own cross and come after me, you can’t be my disciple.

²⁸ “Don’t you see? Supposing one of you wants to build a tower; what will you do? You will first of all sit down and work out how much it will cost, to see whether you have enough to finish it. ²⁹ Otherwise, when you’ve laid the foundation and then can’t finish it, everyone who sees it will begin to make fun of you. ³⁰ ‘Here’s a fellow,’ they’ll say, ‘who began to build but couldn’t finish!’

³¹ “Or think of a king, on the way to fight a war against another king. What will he do? He will first sit down and discuss with his advisers whether, with ten thousand troops, he is going to be a match for the other side who are coming with twenty thousand! ³² If they decide he isn’t, he will send a delegation, while the other one is still a long way away, and sue for peace.

³³ “In the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless you give up all your possessions.

³⁴ “Salt is good; but if even the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It’s no good for soil and no good for manure. People throw it away. If you have ears, then listen!”

The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin

15 All the tax-collectors and sinners were coming close to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the legal experts were grumbling. “This fellow welcomes sinners!” they said. “He even eats with them!”

³ So Jesus told them this parable. ⁴ “Supposing one of you has a hundred sheep,” he said, “and you lose one of them. What will you do? Why, you’ll leave the ninety-nine out in the countryside, and you’ll go off looking for the lost one until you find it! ⁵ And when you find it, you’ll be so happy—you’ll put it on your shoulders ⁶ and come home, and you’ll call your friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ you’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’

⁷ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad they will be in heaven over one sinner who repents—more than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.

⁸ “Or supposing a woman has ten drachmas and loses one of them. What will she do? Why, she’ll light a lamp, and sweep the house, and hunt carefully until she finds it! ⁹ And when she finds it she’ll call her friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ she’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost coin!’

¹⁰ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad God’s angels feel when a single sinner repents.”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the younger son

¹¹ Jesus went on: “Once there was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to the father, ‘Father, give me my share in the property.’ So he divided up his livelihood between them. ¹³ Not many days later the younger son turned his share into cash, and set off for a country far away, where he spent his share in having a riotous good time.

¹⁴ “When he had spent it all, a severe famine came on that country, and he found himself destitute. ¹⁵ So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed his pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to satisfy his hunger with the pods that the pigs were eating, and nobody gave him anything.

¹⁷ “He came to his senses. ‘Just think!’ he said to himself. ‘There are all my father’s hired hands with plenty to eat—and here am I, starving to death! ¹⁸ I shall get up and go to my father, and I’ll say to him: “Father; I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer. Make me like one of your hired hands.” ’ ²⁰ And he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and his heart was stirred with love and pity. He ran to him, hugged him tight, and kissed him. ²¹ ‘Father,’ the son began, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him! Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet! ²³ And bring the calf that we’ve fattened up, kill it, and let’s eat and have a party! ²⁴ This son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ And they began to celebrate.”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the older son

²⁵ “The older son was out in the fields. When he came home, and got near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the servants and asked what was going on.

²⁷ “ ‘Your brother’s come home!’ he said. ‘And your father has thrown a great party—he’s killed the fattened calf!—because he’s got him back safe and well!’

²⁸ “He flew into a rage, and wouldn’t go in.

“Then his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ ‘Look here!’ he said to his father, ‘I’ve been slaving for you all these years! I’ve never disobeyed a single commandment of yours. And you never even gave me a young goat so I could have a party with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours comes home, once he’s finished gobbling up your livelihood with his whores, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “ ‘My son,’ he replied, ‘you’re always with me. Everything I have belongs to you. ³² But we had to celebrate and be happy! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ ”

The parable of the shrewd manager

16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were laid against him that he was squandering his property. ² So he called him and said to him, ‘What’s all this I hear about you? Present an account of your stewardship; I’m not going to have you as my steward anymore!’

³ “At this, the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do? My master is taking away my stewardship from me! I can’t do manual work, and I’d be ashamed to beg . . .

⁴ “ ‘I have an idea what to do!—so that people will welcome me into their households when I am fired from being steward.’

⁵ “So he called his master’s debtors to him, one by one. ‘How much,’ he asked the first, ‘do you owe my master?’

⁶ “ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he replied.

“ ‘Take your bill,’ he said to him, ‘sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’

⁷ “To another he said, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied.

“ ‘Take your bill,’ he said, ‘and make it eighty.’

⁸ “And the master praised the dishonest steward because he had acted wisely. The children of this world, you see, are wiser than the children of light when it comes to dealing with their own generation.

⁹ “So let me tell you this: use that dishonest stuff called money to make yourselves friends! Then, when it gives out, they will welcome you into homes that will last.”

Teachings on stewardship

¹⁰ “Someone who is faithful in a small matter,” Jesus continued, “will also be faithful in a large one. Someone who is dishonest in a small matter will also be dishonest in a large one. ¹¹ If you haven’t been faithful with that wicked thing called money, who is going to entrust you with true wealth? ¹² And if you haven’t been faithful in looking after what belongs to someone else, who is going to give you what is your own?

¹³ “Nobody can serve two masters. You will end up hating one and loving the other, or going along with the first and despising the other. You can’t serve God and money.”

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this, and mocked Jesus. ¹⁵ So he said to them, “You people let everyone else know that you’re in the right—but God knows your hearts. What people call honorable, God calls abominable!

¹⁶ “The law and the prophets lasted until John. From now on, God’s kingdom is announced, and everyone is trying to attack it. ¹⁷ But it’s easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of an ‘i’ to drop out of the law.

¹⁸ “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a person who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was once a rich man,” said Jesus, “who was dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted in splendor every day. ²⁰ A poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, lay outside his gate. ²¹ He longed to feed himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “In due course the poor man died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. ²³ As he was being tormented in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴ “ ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out. ‘Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! I’m in agony in this fire!’

²⁵ “ ‘My child,’ replied Abraham, ‘remember that in your life you received good things, and in the same way Lazarus received evil. Now he is comforted here, and you are tormented. ²⁶ Besides that, there is a great chasm standing between us. People who want to cross over from here to you can’t do so, nor can anyone get across from the far side to us.’

²⁷ “ ‘Please, then, Father,’ he said, ‘send him to my father’s house. ²⁸ I’ve got five brothers. Let him tell them about it, so that they don’t come into this torture-chamber.’

²⁹ “ ‘They’ve got Moses and the prophets,’ replied Abraham. ‘Let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “ ‘No, Father Abraham,’ he replied, ‘but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent!’

³¹ “ ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets,’ came the reply, ‘neither would they be convinced, even if someone rose from the dead.’ ”

Forgiveness, faith and obedience

17 Jesus said to his disciples, “There are bound to be things that trip people up; but woe betide the person who brings them about! ² It would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck, and be thrown into the sea, than to trip up one of these little ones. ³ So watch out for yourselves.

“If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he apologizes, forgive him. ⁴ Even if he sins against you seven times, and turns round seven times and says ‘sorry’ to you, you must forgive him.”

⁵ The apostles said to the master, “Give us greater faith!”

⁶ “If you had faith,” replied the master, “as a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷ “Supposing one of you has a slave ploughing or keeping sheep out in the field. When he comes in, what will you say? ‘Come here at once, and sit down for a meal?’ ⁸ No; you will be far more likely to say, ‘Get something ready for me to eat! Get properly dressed, and wait on me while I eat and drink! After that you can have something to eat and drink yourself.’ ⁹ Will you thank the slave because he did what you told him?

¹⁰ “That’s how it is with you. When you’ve done everything you’re told, say this: ‘We’re just ordinary slaves. All we’ve done is what we were supposed to do.’ ”

Ten men healed

¹¹ As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he passed along the borderlands between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into one particular village he was met by ten men with virulent skin diseases who stayed at some distance from him.

¹³ “Jesus, Master!” they called out loudly. “Have pity on us!”

¹⁴ When Jesus saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were healed.

¹⁵ One of them, seeing that he had been healed, turned back and gave glory to God at the top of his voice. ¹⁶ He fell on his face in front of Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ “There were ten of you healed, weren’t there?” responded Jesus. “Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Is it really the case that the only one who had the decency to give God the glory was this foreigner?

¹⁹ “Get up, and be on your way,” he said to him. “Your faith has saved you.”

The coming of the kingdom

²⁰ The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming.

“God’s kingdom,” replied Jesus, “isn’t the sort of thing you can watch for and see coming. ²¹ People won’t say ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, over there!’ No: God’s kingdom is within your grasp.”

²² Then Jesus said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the son of man, and you won’t see it. ²³ They will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Don’t go off or follow them. ²⁴ The son of man in his day will be like lightning that shines from one end of the sky to the other. ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ “What will it be like in the days of the son of man? It will be like the days of Noah. ²⁷ People were eating and drinking, they were getting married and giving wedding parties, until the day when Noah went into the ark. And on that day the flood came and swept them all away. ²⁸ And it will be like the days of Lot. They were eating and drinking, they were buying and selling, they were planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day when Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky and they were all destroyed. ³⁰ That’s what it will be like on the day when the son of man is revealed.

³¹ “On that day anyone up on the roof, with all their possessions in the house, shouldn’t go down to get them. Anyone out in the field shouldn’t go back to get anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ If you try to save your life you’ll lose it, but anyone who loses it will keep it.

³⁴ “Let me tell you, in that night there will be two people sleeping side by side: one will be taken, and the other left behind. ³⁵ There will be two women working side by side grinding corn: one will be taken, and the other left behind.”

³⁷ “Where will this be, Master?” they asked him.

“Where the body is,” replied Jesus, “there the vultures will gather.”

The parables of the persistent widow and the tax-collector

18 Jesus told them a parable, about how they should always pray and not give up.

² “There was once a judge in a certain town,” he said, “who didn’t fear God, and didn’t have any respect for people. ³ There was a widow in that town, and she came to him and said, ‘Judge my case! Vindicate me against my enemy!’

⁴ “For a long time he refused. But, in the end, he said to himself, ‘It’s true that I don’t fear God, and don’t have any respect for people. ⁵ But because this widow is causing me a lot of trouble, I will put her case right and vindicate her, so that she doesn’t end up coming and giving me a black eye.’

⁶ “Well,” said the master, “did you hear what this unjust judge says? ⁷ And don’t you think that God will see justice done for his chosen ones, who shout out to him day and night? Do you suppose he is deliberately delaying? ⁸ Let me tell you, he will vindicate them very quickly. But—when the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

⁹ He told this next parable against those who trusted in their own righteous standing and despised others.

¹⁰ “Two men,” he said, “went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, the other was a tax-collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed in this way to himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the other people—greedy, unjust, immoral, or even like this tax-collector. ¹² I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

¹³ “But the tax-collector stood a long way off, and didn’t even want to raise his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am.’ ¹⁴ Let me tell you, he was the one who went back to his house in the right before God, not the other. Don’t you see? People who exalt themselves will be humbled, and people who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The rich young ruler

¹⁵ People were bringing even tiny babies to Jesus for him to touch them. When the disciples saw it, they forbade them sternly. ¹⁶ But Jesus called them. “Let the children come to me,” he said, “and don’t stop them! God’s kingdom belongs to the likes of these. ¹⁷ I’m telling you the truth: anyone who doesn’t receive God’s kingdom like a child will never get into it.”

¹⁸ There was a ruler who asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit the life of the age to come?”

¹⁹ “Why call me good?” said Jesus to him. “No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: Don’t commit adultery, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t swear falsely, honor your father and mother.”

²¹ “I’ve kept them all,” he said, “since I was a boy.”

²² When Jesus heard that, he said to him, “There’s just one thing you’re short of. Sell everything you own, and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²³ When he heard that he became very sad. He was extremely wealthy.

²⁴ Jesus saw that he had become sad, and said, “How hard it is for those with possessions to enter God’s kingdom! ²⁵ Yes: it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom.”

²⁶ The people who heard it said, “So who can be saved?”

²⁷ “What’s impossible for humans,” said Jesus, “is possible for God.”

²⁸ “Look here,” said Peter, “we’ve left everything and followed you.”

²⁹ “I’m telling you the truth,” said Jesus, “everyone who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, because of God’s kingdom, ³⁰ will receive far more in return in the present time—and in the age to come they will receive the life that belongs to that age.”

Jesus heals a blind beggar

³¹ Jesus took the Twelve aside.

“Look,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything that’s written in the prophets about the son of man will be fulfilled. ³² Yes: he will be handed over to the pagans; he’ll be mocked, abused and spat upon. ³³ They will beat him and kill him; and on the third day he’ll be raised.”

³⁴ They didn’t understand any of this. The word was hidden from them, and they didn’t know what he meant.

³⁵ As they were getting near Jericho there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging. ³⁶ When he heard a crowd passing through the town he asked what was going on.

³⁷ “Jesus of Nazareth is coming by,” people said to him.

³⁸ So he shouted out, “Jesus—David’s son! Have pity on me!”

³⁹ The people who were at the front of the group firmly told him to be silent. But he yelled out all the more, “David’s son! Have pity on me!”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped, and told them to bring the man to him. When he came up, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What d’you want me to do for you?”

“Master,” he said, “I want to see again.”

⁴² “Then see again,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved you.”

⁴³ At once he received his sight again, and followed him, glorifying God. And when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

The calling of Zacchaeus

19 They went into Jericho and passed through. ² There was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax-collector, who was very rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a small man, he couldn’t, because of the crowd. ⁴ So he ran on ahead, along the route Jesus was going to take, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him.

⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up. “Zacchaeus,” he said to him, “hurry up and come down. I have to stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he hurried up, came down, and welcomed him with joy.

⁷ Everybody began to murmur when they saw it. “He’s gone in to spend time with a proper old sinner!” they were saying.

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and addressed the master.

“Look, Master,” he said, “I’m giving half my property to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I’m giving it back to them four times over.”

⁹ “Today,” said Jesus, “salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ You see, the son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The king, the servants and the money

¹¹ While people were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable. They were, after all, getting close to Jerusalem, and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at any moment.

¹² “There was once a nobleman,” he said, “who went into a country far away to be given royal authority and then return. ¹³ He summoned ten of his slaves and gave them ten silver coins. ‘Do business with these,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ ¹⁴ His subjects, though, hated him, and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “So it happened that when he received the kingship and came back again, he gave orders to summon the slaves who had received the money, so that he could find out how they had got on with their business efforts. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your money has made ten times its value!’

¹⁷ “ ‘Well done, you splendid servant!’ he said. ‘You’ve been trustworthy with something small; now you can take command of ten cities.’

¹⁸ “The second came and said, ‘Master, your money has made five times its value!’

¹⁹ “ ‘You too—you can take charge of five cities.’

²⁰ “The other came and said, ‘Master, here is your money. I kept it wrapped in this handkerchief. ²¹ You see, I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man: you profit where you made no investment, and you harvest what you didn’t sow.’

²² “ ‘I’ll condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked scoundrel of a servant!’ he replied. ‘So: you knew that I was a hard man, profiting where I didn’t invest and harvesting where I didn’t sow? ²³ So why didn’t you put my money with the bankers? Then I’d have had the interest when I got back!’

²⁴ “ ‘Take the money from him,’ he said to the bystanders, ‘and give it to the man who’s made ten of them!’ ²⁵ (‘Master,’ they said to him, ‘he’s got ten coins already!’)

²⁶ “Let me tell you: everyone who has will be given more; but if someone has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine, who didn’t want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in front of me.”

The triumphal entry

²⁸ With these words, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹ As they came close, as near as Bethany and Bethphage, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples on ahead. ³⁰ “Go into the village over there,” he said, “and as you arrive you’ll find a colt tied up, one that nobody has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you should say, ‘Because the master needs it.’ ”

³² The two who were sent went off and found it just as Jesus had said to them. ³³ They untied the colt, and its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴ “Because the master needs it,” they replied.

³⁵ They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and mounted Jesus on it. ³⁶ As he was going along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

³⁷ When he came to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to celebrate and praise God at the tops of their voices for all the powerful deeds they had seen.

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell your disciples to stop that.”

⁴⁰ “Let me tell you,” replied Jesus, “if they stayed silent, the stones would be shouting out!”

Jesus cleanses the Temple

⁴¹ When he came near and saw the city, he wept over it.

⁴² “If only you’d known,” he said, “on this day—even you!—what peace meant. But now it’s hidden, and you can’t see it. ⁴³ Yes, the days are coming upon you when your enemies will build up earthworks all round you, and encircle you, and squeeze you in from every direction. ⁴⁴ They will bring you crashing to the ground, you and your children within you. They won’t leave one single stone on another, because you didn’t know the moment when God was visiting you.”

⁴⁵ He went into the Temple and began to throw out the traders.

⁴⁶ “It’s written,” he said, “ ‘My house shall be a house of prayer; but you’ve made it a brigands’ cave.’ ”

⁴⁷ He was teaching every day in the Temple. But the chief priests, the scribes and the leading men of the people were trying to destroy him. ⁴⁸ They couldn’t find any way to do it, because all the people were hanging on his every word.

The question about Jesus’ authority

20 On one of those days, while Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, and announcing the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came up with the elders, and said to him, ² “Tell us: by what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority?”

³ “I’ve got a question for you, too,” said Jesus, “so tell me this: ⁴ was John’s baptism from God, or was it merely human?”

⁵ “If we say it was from God,” they said among themselves, “he’ll say, So why didn’t you believe him? ⁶ But if we say ‘merely human,’ all the people will stone us, since they’re convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷ So they replied that they didn’t know where John and his baptism came from.

⁸ “Very well, then,” said Jesus. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The parable of the tenants

⁹ Jesus began to tell the people this parable. “There was a man who planted a vineyard, let it out to tenant farmers, and went abroad for a long while. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a slave to the farmers to collect from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He then sent a further slave, and they beat him, abused him, and sent him back empty-handed. ¹² Then he sent yet a third, and they beat him up and threw him out.

¹³ “So the master of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I’ll send my beloved son. They will certainly respect him!’ ¹⁴ But when the farmers saw him they said to each other, ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him, and then the inheritance will belong to us!’ ¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“So what will the master of the vineyard do? ¹⁶ He will come and wipe out those farmers, and give the vineyard to others.”

When they heard this, they said, “God forbid!” ¹⁷ But Jesus looked round at them and said, “What then does it mean in the Bible when it says,

¹⁸ “Everyone who falls on that stone will be smashed to smithereens; but if it falls on anyone, it will crush them.”

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him then and there. But they were afraid of the people, because they knew that Jesus had told this parable against them.