Luke 12-13 (Amplified Bible)

Luke 12

 ¹IN THE meanwhile, when so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were trampling on one another, Jesus commenced by saying primarily to His disciples, Be on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [producing unrest and violent agitation].

    ²Nothing is [so closely] covered up that it will not be revealed, or hidden that it will not be known.

    ³Whatever you have spoken in the darkness shall be heard and listened to in the light, and what you have whispered in [people's] ears and behind closed doors will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

    ⁴I tell you, My friends, do not dread and be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.

    ⁵But I will warn you whom you should fear: fear Him Who, after killing, has power to hurl into hell (Gehenna); yes, I say to you, fear Him!

    ⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And [yet] not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God.

    ⁷But [even] the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm; you are of greater worth than many [flocks] of sparrows.

    ⁸And I tell you, Whoever declares openly [speaking out freely] and confesses that he is My worshiper and acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will declare and confess and acknowledge him before the angels of God.

    ⁹But he who disowns and denies and rejects and refuses to acknowledge Me before men will be disowned and denied and rejected and refused acknowledgement in the presence of the angels of God.

    ¹⁰And everyone who makes a statement or speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [that is, whoever ^[a]intentionally comes short of the reverence due the Holy Spirit], it will not be forgiven him [for him there is no forgiveness].

    ¹¹And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious [beforehand] how you shall reply in defense or what you are to say.

    ¹²For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour and ^[b]moment what [you] ought to say.

    ¹³Someone from the crowd said to Him, Master, order my brother to divide the inheritance and share it with me.

    ¹⁴But He told him, Man, who has appointed Me a judge or umpire and divider over you?

    ¹⁵And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man's life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing ^[c]overflowing abundance or that which is ^[d]over and above his needs.

    ¹⁶Then He told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man was fertile and yielded plentifully.

    ¹⁷And he considered and debated within himself, What shall I do? I have no place [in which] to gather together my harvest.

    ¹⁸And he said, I will do this: I will pull down my storehouses and build larger ones, and there I will store all ^[e]my grain or produce and my goods.

    ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily.

    ²⁰But God said to him, You fool! This very night ^[f] they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?^(A)

    ²¹So it is with the one who continues to lay up and hoard possessions for himself and is not rich [in his relation] to God [this is how he fares].

    ²²And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious and troubled [with cares] about your life, as to what you will [have to] eat; or about your body, as to what you will [have to] wear.

    ²³For life is more than food, and the body [more] than clothes.

    ²⁴Observe and consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn; and [yet] God feeds them. Of how much more worth are you than the birds!

    ²⁵And which of you by being overly anxious and troubled with cares can add a ^[g]cubit to his stature or a moment [unit] of time to his ^[h]age [the length of his life]?

    ²⁶If then you are not able to do such a little thing as that, why are you anxious and troubled with cares about the rest?

    ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither [wearily] toil nor spin nor ^[i]weave; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory (his splendor and magnificence) was not arrayed like one of these. [I Kings 10:4-7.]

    ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you [people] of little faith?

    ²⁹And you, do not seek [by meditating and reasoning to inquire into] what you are to eat and what you are to drink; nor be of anxious (troubled) mind [^[j]unsettled, excited, worried, and ^[k]in suspense];

    ³⁰For all the pagan world is [greedily] seeking these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

    ³¹Only aim at and strive for and seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be supplied to you also.

    ³²Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!

    ³³Sell what you possess and give donations to the poor; provide yourselves with purses and handbags that do not grow old, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

    ³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

    ³⁵Keep your loins girded and your lamps burning,

    ³⁶And be like men who are waiting for their master to return home from the marriage feast, so that when he returns from the wedding and comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.

    ³⁷Blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[l]to be envied) are those servants whom the master finds awake and alert and watching when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will gird himself and have them recline at table and will come and serve them!

    ³⁸If he comes in the second watch (before midnight) or the third watch (after midnight), and finds them so, blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[m]to be envied) are those servants!

    ³⁹But of this be assured: if the householder had known at what time the burglar was coming, he would have been awake and alert and watching and would not have permitted his house to be dug through and broken into.

    ⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour and a ^[n]moment when you do not anticipate it.

    ⁴¹Peter said, Lord, are You telling this parable for us, or for all alike?

    ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful steward, the wise man whom his master will set over those in his household service to supply them their allowance of food at the appointed time?

    ⁴³Blessed (happy and ^[o]to be envied) is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he arrives.

    ⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will set him in charge over all his possessions.

    ⁴⁵But if that servant says in his heart, My master is late in coming, and begins to strike the menservants and the maids and to eat and drink and get drunk,

    ⁴⁶The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he does not know, and will punish him and cut him off and assign his lot with ^[p]the unfaithful.

    ⁴⁷And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act as he would wish him to act shall be beaten with many [lashes].

    ⁴⁸But he who did not know and did things worthy of a beating shall be beaten with few [lashes]. For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.^(B)

    ⁴⁹I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled!

    ⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how greatly and sorely I am urged on (impelled, ^[q]constrained) until it is accomplished!

    ⁵¹Do you suppose that I have come to give peace upon earth? No, I say to you, but rather division;

    ⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided [among themselves], three against two and two against three.

    ⁵³They will be divided, father 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 her mother-in-law.^(C)

    ⁵⁴He also said to the crowds of people, When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, It is going to rain! And so it does.

    ⁵⁵And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, There will be severe heat! And it occurs.

    ⁵⁶You playactors (hypocrites)! You know how [intelligently] to discern and interpret and ^[r]prove the looks of the earth and sky; but how is it that you do not know how to discern and interpret and apply the proof to this present time?

    ⁵⁷And why do you not judge what is just and personally decide what is right?

    ⁵⁸Then as you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make a diligent effort to settle and be quit (free) of him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.

    ⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last [fraction of a] cent.

   

Luke 13

 ¹JUST AT that time there [arrived] some people who informed Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

    ²And He replied by saying to them, Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?

    ³I tell you, No; but unless you repent (^[s]change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost ^[t]eternally.

    ⁴Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them--do you think that they were more guilty offenders (debtors) than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?

    ⁵I tell you, No; but unless you repent (^[u]change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost ^[v]eternally.

    ⁶And He told them this parable: A certain man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find [any].

    ⁷So he said to the vinedresser, See here! For these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue also to use up the ground [to ^[w]deplete the soil, intercept the sun, and take up room]?

    ⁸But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil].

    ⁹Then perhaps it will bear fruit after this; but if not, you can cut it down and out.

    ¹⁰Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

    ¹¹And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had had an ^[x]infirmity caused by a spirit (^[y]a demon of sickness). She was ^[z]bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or to ^[aa]look upward.

    ¹²And when Jesus saw her, He called [her to Him] and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity!

    ¹³Then He laid [His] hands on her, and instantly she was made straight, and she ^[ab]recognized and thanked and praised God.

    ¹⁴But the ^[ac]leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.^(D)

    ¹⁵But the Lord replied to him, saying, You playactors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water it?

    ¹⁶And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

    ¹⁷Even as He said this, all His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.

    ¹⁸This led Him to say, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

    ¹⁹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the wild birds ^[ad]found shelter and roosted and nested in its branches.

    ²⁰And again He said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?

    ²¹It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of wheat flour or meal until it was all leavened (fermented).

    ²²[Jesus] journeyed on through towns and villages, teaching, and making His way toward Jerusalem.

    ²³And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved (rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, and made partakers of the salvation by Christ)? And He said to them,

    ²⁴Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

    ²⁵When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! He will answer you, I do not know where [^[ae]what household--certainly not Mine] you come from.

    ²⁶Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.

    ²⁷But He will say, I tell you, I do not know where [^[af]what household--certainly not Mine] you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!

    ²⁸There will be weeping and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves being cast forth (banished, driven away).

    ²⁹And [people] will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit down (feast at table) in the kingdom of God.

    ³⁰And behold, there are some [now] last who will be first [then], and there are some [now] first who will be last [then].

    ³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came up and said to Him, Go away from here, for Herod is determined to kill You.

    ³²And He said to them, Go and tell that fox [sly and crafty, skulking and cowardly], Behold, I drive out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish (complete) My course.

    ³³Nevertheless, I must continue on My way today and tomorrow and the day after that--for it will never do for a prophet to be destroyed away from Jerusalem!

    ³⁴O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who continue to kill the prophets and to stone those who are sent to you! How often I have desired and yearned to gather your children together [around Me], as a hen [gathers] her young under her wings, but you would not!

    ³⁵Behold, your house is forsaken (abandoned, left to you destitute of God's help)! And I tell you, you will not see Me again until the time comes when you shall say, Blessed (to be celebrated with praises) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!^(E)