A Sabbath Controversy

14 One Sabbath, when He went to eat[a] at the house of one of the leading Pharisees,(A) they were watching Him closely.(B) There in front of Him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.[b] In response, Jesus asked the law experts(C) and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”(D) But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. And to them, He said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”(E) To this they could find no answer.

Teachings on Humility

He told a parable(F) to those who were invited, when He noticed how they would choose the best places(G) for themselves: “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person(H) than you may have been invited by your host.[c] The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

10 “But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored(I) in the presence of all the other guests.(J) 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”(K)

12 He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13 On the contrary, when you host a banquet,(L) invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 14:1 Lit eat bread; = eat a meal
  2. Luke 14:2 Afflicted with dropsy or edema
  3. Luke 14:8 Lit by him

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