¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

Punishments for Sin

20 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.^(A) The members of the community are to stone him.^{(B) 3} I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;^(C) for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled^(D) my sanctuary^(E) and profaned my holy name.^{(F) 4} If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,^{(G) 5} I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

⁶ “‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.^(H)

⁷ “‘Consecrate yourselves^(I) and be holy,^(J) because I am the Lord your God.^{(K) 8} Keep my decrees^(L) and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.^(M)

⁹ “‘Anyone who curses their father^(N) or mother^(O) is to be put to death.^(P) Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.^(Q)

¹⁰ “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife^(R)—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.^(S)

¹¹ “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.^(T) Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.^(U)

¹² “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law,^(V) both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹³ “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.^(W) They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹⁴ “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother,^(X) it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire,^(Y) so that no wickedness will be among you.^(Z)

¹⁵ “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal,^(AA) he is to be put to death,^(AB) and you must kill the animal.

¹⁶ “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

¹⁷ “‘If a man marries his sister^(AC), the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed^(AD) from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.^(AE)

¹⁸ “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,^(AF) he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.^(AG)

¹⁹ “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father,^(AH) for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.

²⁰ “‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt,^(AI) he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.^(AJ)

²¹ “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife,^(AK) it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.^(AL)

²² “‘Keep all my decrees and laws^(AM) and follow them, so that the land^(AN) where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. ²³ You must not live according to the customs of the nations^(AO) I am going to drive out before you.^(AP) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.^{(AQ) 24} But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”^(AR) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.^(AS)

²⁵ “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.^(AT) Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. ²⁶ You are to be holy to me^(AU) because I, the Lord, am holy,^(AV) and I have set you apart from the nations^(AW) to be my own.

²⁷ “‘A man or woman who is a medium^(AX) or spiritist among you must be put to death.^(AY) You are to stone them;^(AZ) their blood will be on their own heads.’”

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.^[a]

³ This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

Disaster From the North

¹⁰ Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived^(AD) this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’^(AE) when the sword is at our throats!”

¹¹ At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind^(AF) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; ¹² a wind^(AG) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments^(AH) against them.”

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House^(A)

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee,^(B) he was being carefully watched.^{(C) 2} There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law,^(D) “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”^{(E) 4} But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”^{(F) 6} And they had nothing to say.

⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table,^(G) he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”^(H)

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,^{(I) 14} and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”^(J)

The Parable of the Great Banquet^(K)

¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast^(L) in the kingdom of God.”^(M)

¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’^(N)

²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”^(O)

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.^{(P) 27} And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.^(Q)

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.^(R)

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?^{(S) 35} It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.^(T)

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(U)