Warnings from Jesus

17 He^(A) said to his disciples, ‘Offences will certainly come,^[a] but woe^(B) to the one through whom they come!^{(C) 2} It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.^{(D) 3} Be^(E) on your guard. If your brother sins,^[b] rebuke^(F) him, and if he repents, forgive^(G) him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” you must forgive him.’

Faith and Duty

⁵ The^(H) apostles^(I) said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’^(J)

⁶ ‘If you have faith the size of^[c] a mustard seed,’^(K) the Lord said, ‘you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you.

⁷ ‘Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or ploughing will say to him when he comes in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to eat”? ⁸ Instead, will he not tell him, “Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink”?^{(L) 9} Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?^{[d] 10} In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, “We are unworthy^(M) servants; we’ve only done our duty.” ’

Ten Men Healed

¹¹ While travelling to Jerusalem,^(N) he passed between^[e] Samaria and Galilee.^{(O) 12} As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy^[f](P) met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and raised their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master,^(Q) have mercy on us! ’

¹⁴ When he saw them, he told them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’^(R) And while they were going, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.^{(S) 16} He fell face down^(T) at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.^(U)

¹⁷ Then Jesus said, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner? ’ ¹⁹ And he told him, ‘Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.’^[g](V)

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ When he was^(W) asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,^(X) he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; ²¹ no one will say,^[h] “See here! ” or “There! ” For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.’^[i]

²² Then he told the disciples, ‘The days are coming^(Y) when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.^{(Z) 23} They will say to you,^(AA) “See there! ” or “See here! ” Don’t follow or run after them.^{(AB) 24} For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.^{(AC) 25} But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.^(AD)

²⁶ ‘Just as it was in the days of Noah,^(AE) so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage^(AF) until the day Noah boarded the ark,^(AG) and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot:^(AH) People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed^(AI) them all. ³⁰ It^(AJ) will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.^{(AK) 31} On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife!^{(AL) 33} Whoever tries to make his life secure^[j][k] will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.^{(AM) 34} I tell you, on that night^(AN) two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.’^[l]

³⁷ ‘Where, Lord? ’^(AO) they asked him.

He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there also the vultures^(AP) will be gathered.’