Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[a](A)Be prepared, and keep your ^(B)lamps lit. ³⁶ You are also to be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door for him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(C)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(D)he will ^[b]prepare himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and he will come up and serve them. ^38 (E)Whether he comes in the ^[c]second watch, or even in the ^[d]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(F)But ^[e]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^(G)broken into. ^40 (H)You too, be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think He will.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or ^(I)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(J)the Lord said, “^(K)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(L)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(M)slave whom his ^[f]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will take a long time to come,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will ^[g]cut him in two, and assign ^[h]him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will ^(N)receive many blows, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(O)know it, and committed acts deserving of ^[i]a beating, will receive only a few blows. ^(P)From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides People

⁴⁹ “I ^[j]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[k]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(Q)baptism ^[l]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (R)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(S)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 And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(T)Whenever you see a cloud rising ^[m]in the west, you immediately say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And whenever you feel a ^[n]south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(U)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(V)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(W)why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(X)when you are going with your accuser to appear before the magistrate, on the way, make an effort to ^[o]settle with him, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid up ^[p]the very last ^[q](Y)lepton.”

Call to Repent

13 Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood ^(Z)Pilate had ^[r]mixed with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus responded and said to them, “^(AA)Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate? ³ No, I tell you, but unless you ^[s]repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(AB)Siloam fell and killed them were worse ^[t](AC)offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶ And He began telling this parable: “A man had ^(AD)a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree ^[u]without finding any. ^(AE)Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹ and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Healing on the Sabbath

¹⁰ Now Jesus was ^(AF)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And ^[v]there was a woman who for eighteen years had had ^(AG)a ^[w]sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” ¹³ And He ^(AH)laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began ^(AI)glorifying God. ¹⁴ But ^(AJ)the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus ^(AK)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “^(AL)There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵ But ^(AM)the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, ^(AN)does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ And this woman, ^(AO)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom ^(AP)Satan has bound for ^[x]eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ And as He said this, all His opponents were being ^[y]humiliated; and ^(AQ)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

¹⁸ So ^(AR)He was saying, “^(AS)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and ^(AT)the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰ And again He said, “^(AU)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ^21 (AV)It is like ^[z]leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(AW)three ^[aa]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

Healing the Man Born Blind

9 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, “^(A)Rabbi, who sinned, ^(B)this man or his ^(C)parents, that he would be born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was ^(D)so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me ^(E)as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am ^(F)the Light of the world.” ⁶ When He had said this, He ^(G)spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes, ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in ^(H)the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and ^(I)washed, and ^(J)came back seeing. ⁸ So the neighbors, and those who previously saw ^[a]him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to ^(K)sit and beg?” ⁹ Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” ^[b]The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” ¹⁰ So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to ^(L)Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ¹² And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man

¹³ They *brought ^[c]the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. ^14 (M)Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ^15 (N)Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He ^(O)does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such ^[d](P)signs?” And ^(Q)there was dissension among them. ¹⁷ So they *said ^(R)again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a ^(S)prophet.”

^18 (T)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, ¹⁹ and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they ^(U)were afraid of the ^[e]Jews; for the Jews ^(V)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be ^[f]Christ, ^(W)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. ²³ It was for this reason that his parents said, “^(X)He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “^(Y)Give glory to God; we know that ^(Z)this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “^(AA)I told you already and you did not ^(AB)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” ²⁸ They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but ^(AC)we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, ^(AD)we do not know where He is from.” ³⁰ The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! ³¹ We know that ^(AE)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is ^[g]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. ^32 [h]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ^33 (AF)If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “^(AG)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they ^[i](AH)put him out.

Jesus Affirms His Deity

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had ^[j](AI)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the ^(AJ)Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered ^[k]by saying, “And ^(AK)who is He, ^[l]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and ^(AL)He is the one who is talking with you.” ³⁸ And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he ^(AM)worshiped Him. ³⁹ And Jesus said, “^(AN)For judgment I came into this world, so that ^(AO)those who do not see may see, and ^(AP)those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “^(AQ)We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “^(AR)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘^(AS)We see,’ your sin remains.