The Centurion’s Faith

7 ^(A)When He had completed all His words in the hearing of the people, ^(B)He went to Capernaum.

² And a centurion’s slave, ^[a]who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. ³ Now when he heard about Jesus, ^(C)he sent some ^[b]Jewish elders asking Him to come and ^[c]save the life of his slave. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they were earnestly pleading with Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; ⁵ for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” ⁶ Now Jesus was going on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “^[d]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not good enough for You to come under my roof. ⁷ For this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just ^[e]say the word, and my ^[f]servant will be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him. And He turned to the crowd that was following Him and said, “I say to you, ^(D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹ And it happened that soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain, and His disciples were going along with Him, ^[g]accompanied by a large crowd. ¹² Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, ^[h]a dead man was being carried out, the ^[i]only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ And when ^(E)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ And the ^[j]dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ^16 (F)And fear gripped them all, and they began ^(G)glorifying God, saying, “A great ^(H)prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has ^[k]visited His people!” ^17 (I)And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

Questions from John the Baptist

^18 (J)And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ Summoning ^[l]two of his disciples, John sent them to ^(K)the Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” ²⁰ When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’” ²¹ At that ^[m]very time He ^(L)cured many people of diseases and ^(M)afflictions and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the ^(N)blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the ^(O)poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ Blessed is he ^[n]who does not take offense at Me.”

²⁴ And when the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? ^25 [o]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft garments? Behold, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and even more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written,

²⁸ I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is ^[q]least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ And when all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they ^[r]acknowledged ^(Q)God’s justice, ^(R)having been baptized with ^(S)the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the ^(T)scholars of the Law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by ^[s]John.

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children, sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’ ³³ For John the Baptist has come ^(U)eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ^[t]drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ^[u]sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet wisdom ^(V)is vindicated ^[v]by all her children.”

³⁶ Now one of the Pharisees was asking Him to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ^37 (W)And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a ^[w]sinner. And when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were ^(X)a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Parable of Two Debtors

⁴⁰ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he ^[x]replied, “Say it, Teacher.” ⁴¹ “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred ^[y](Y)denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they ^(Z)were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he graciously forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” ⁴⁴ And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you ^(AA)gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You ^(AB)gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. ^46 (AC)You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. ⁴⁷ For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then He said to her, “^(AD)Your sins have been forgiven.” ⁴⁹ And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say ^[z]to themselves, “^(AE)Who is this man who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And He said to the woman, “^(AF)Your faith has saved you; ^(AG)go in peace.”