Luke 17-18 (Amplified Bible)

Luke 17

 ¹AND [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!

    ²It would be more profitable for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea than that he should cause to sin or be a snare to one of these little ones [^[a]lowly in rank or influence].

    ^3[b]Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.

    ⁴And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).

    ⁵The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith (that trust and confidence that spring from our belief in God).

    ⁶And the Lord answered, If you had faith (trust and confidence in God) even [so small] like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

    ⁷Will any man of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and take your place at the table?

    ⁸Will he not instead tell him, Get my supper ready and gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you yourself shall eat and drink?

    ⁹Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do?

    ¹⁰Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do.

    ¹¹As He went on His way to Jerusalem, it occurred that [Jesus] was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.

    ¹²And as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.

    ¹³And they raised up their voices and called, Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!

    ¹⁴And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean.^(A)

    ¹⁵Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, ^[c]recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice;

    ¹⁶And he fell prostrate at Jesus' feet, thanking Him [over and over]. And he was a Samaritan.

    ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

    ¹⁸Was there no one found to return and to ^[d]recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?

    ¹⁹And He said to him, Get up and go on your way. Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your belief in God) has restored you to health.

    ²⁰Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display,

    ²¹Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].

    ²²And He said to the disciples, The time is coming when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see [it].

    ²³And they will say to you, Look! [He is] there! or, Look! [He is] here! But do not go out or follow [them].

    ²⁴For like the lightning, that flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His [own] day.

    ²⁵But first He must suffer many things and be disapproved and repudiated and rejected by this age and generation.

    ²⁶And [just] as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man.

    ²⁷[People] ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.^(B)

    ²⁸So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

    ²⁹But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all.

    ³⁰That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.^(C)

    ³¹On that day let him who is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, not come down [and go inside] to carry them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.

    ³²Remember Lot's wife!^(D)

    ³³Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and ^[e]quicken it.

    ³⁴I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

    ³⁵There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other will be left.

    ^36[f]Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.

    ³⁷Then they asked Him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures or eagles be gathered together.

   

Luke 18

 ¹ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to ^[g]turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

    ²He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man.

    ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.

    ⁴And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man,

    ⁵Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me ^[h]intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or ^[i]at the last she come and rail on me or ^[j]assault me or ^[k]strangle me.

    ⁶Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says!

    ⁷And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He ^[l]defer them and ^[m]delay help on their behalf?

    ⁸I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [^[n]persistence in] faith on the earth?

    ⁹He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men:

    ¹⁰Two men went up into the temple [^[o]enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

    ¹¹The Pharisee ^[p]took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men--extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers--or even like this tax collector here.

    ¹²I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.

    ¹³But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the ^[q]especially wicked sinner that I am!

    ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

    ¹⁵Now they were also bringing [even] babies to Him that He might touch them, and when the disciples noticed it, they reproved them.

    ¹⁶But Jesus called them [^[r]the parents] to Him, saying, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such [as these] belongs the kingdom of God.

    ¹⁷Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all].

    ¹⁸And a certain ruler asked Him, Good Teacher [You who are ^[s]essentially and perfectly ^[t]morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom]?

    ¹⁹Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [^[u]essentially and perfectly ^[v]morally] good? No one is [^[w]essentially and perfectly ^[x]morally] good--except God only.

    ²⁰You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not witness falsely, honor your father and your mother.^(E)

    ²¹And he replied, All these I have kept from my youth.

    ²²And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and ^[y]divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].

    ²³But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich--exceedingly so.

    ²⁴Jesus, observing him, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

    ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle's eye than [for] a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

    ²⁶And those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?

    ²⁷But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.^(F)

    ²⁸And Peter said, See, we have left our own [things--home, family, and business] and have followed You.

    ²⁹And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

    ³⁰Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.

    ³¹Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled.^(G)

    ³²For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon.^(H)

    ³³They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again.^(I)

    ³⁴But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them.

    ³⁵As He came near to Jericho, it occurred that a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

    ³⁶And hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it meant.

    ³⁷They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

    ³⁸And he shouted, saying, Jesus, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

    ³⁹But those who were in front reproved him, telling him to keep quiet; yet he ^[z]screamed and shrieked so much the more, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

    ⁴⁰Then Jesus stood still and ordered that he be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,

    ⁴¹What do you want Me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight!

    ⁴²And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith (^[aa]your trust and confidence that spring from your faith in God) has healed you.

    ⁴³And instantly he received his sight and began to follow Jesus, ^[ab]recognizing, praising, and honoring God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.