New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely.

1It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely.

2There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen.

2And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.

3Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?”

3And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"

4When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away.

4But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.

5Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?”

5And He said to them, "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?"

6Again they could not answer. Jesus Teaches about Humility

6And they could make no reply to this.

7When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:

7And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited?

8"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

10"But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.

11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

11"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

12Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.

12And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

13"But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Parable of the Great Feast

14and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

15Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”

15When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

16Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.

16But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’

17and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.'

18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’

18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'

19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’

19"Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.'

20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

20"Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.'

21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

21"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 the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'

22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’

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

23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.

23"And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” The Cost of Being a Disciple

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

25A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,

25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,

26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

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

27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

27"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

28"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?

29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.

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

30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?

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

32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.

32"Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

33"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?

34"Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

35"It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org