Jesus Heals Ten Men with a Bad Skin Disease

¹¹ Jesus went on His way to Jerusalem. He was passing between the countries of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As He was going into one of the towns, ten men with a bad skin disease came to Him. They stood a little way off. ¹³ They called to Him, “Jesus! Teacher! Take pity on us!” ¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go and show yourselves to the religious leaders.” As they went, they were healed. ¹⁵ One of them turned back when he saw he was healed. He thanked God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He got down on his face at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him. He was from the country of Samaria. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were there not ten men who were healed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Is this stranger from another country the only one who turned back to give thanks to God?” ¹⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go on your way. Your trust in God has healed you.”

Jesus Teaches about the Holy Nation of God

²⁰ The proud religious law-keepers asked when the holy nation of God would come. Jesus said to them, “The holy nation of God is not coming in such a way that can be seen with the eyes. ²¹ It will not be said, ‘See, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the holy nation of God is in you.”

Jesus Tells of His Second Coming

²² Jesus said to His followers, “The time will come when you will wish you could see the Son of Man for one day. But you will not be able to. ²³ They will say to you, ‘He is here,’ or, ‘He is there,’ but do not follow them. ²⁴ When the Son of Man comes, He will be as lightning that shines from one part of the sky to the other. ²⁵ But before that, He must suffer many hard things. The people of this day will have nothing to do with Him.

²⁶ “As it was in the time of Noah, so will it be when the Son of Man comes back. ²⁷ People ate and drank. They married and were given in marriage. They did these things until the day Noah went into the large boat. Then the flood came and killed all the people on earth. ²⁸ It was the same in the time of Lot. People ate and drank. They bought and sold. They planted and built. ²⁹ But the day Lot left the city of Sodom, fire and sulphur came down from heaven like rain. It killed all the people of Sodom.

³⁰ “It will be the same on the day when the Son of Man comes again. ³¹ In that day the man who is on top of a house should not come down to take his things out of the house. In the same way, the man who is in the field should not go back to his house. ³² Remember Lot’s wife!

³³ “He who wants to keep his life will have it taken away from him. He who loses his life will have it given back to him. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two men in the same bed. One of them will be taken. The other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together. One of them will be taken. The other will be left. ³⁶ *Two men will be working in a field. One will be taken. The other will be left.”

³⁷ Then they asked Jesus, “Where will this happen?” He said to them, “Birds also gather where there is a dead body.”

The Picture-Story of the Woman Whose Husband Had Died

18 Jesus told them a picture-story to show that men should always pray and not give up. ² He said, “There was a man in one of the cities who was head of the court. His work was to say if a person was guilty or not. This man was not afraid of God. He did not respect any man. ³ In that city there was a woman whose husband had died. She kept coming to him and saying, ‘Help me! There is someone who is working against me.’ ⁴ For awhile he would not help her. Then he began to think, ‘I am not afraid of God and I do not respect any man. ⁵ But I will see that this woman whose husband has died gets her rights because I get tired of her coming all the time.’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the sinful man who is head of the court. ⁷ Will not God make the things that are right come to His chosen people who cry day and night to Him? Will He wait a long time to help them? ⁸ I tell you, He will be quick to help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The Picture-Story of the Proud Religious Law-Keepers and the Tax-Gatherers

⁹ Jesus told another picture-story to some people who trusted in themselves and thought they were right with God. These people did not think well of other men. ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Two men went up to the house of God to pray. One of them was a proud religious law-keeper. The other was a man who gathered taxes. ¹¹ The proud religious law-keeper stood and prayed to himself like this, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men. I am not like those who steal. I am not like those who do things that are wrong. I am not like those who do sex sins. I am not even like this tax-gatherer. ¹² I go without food two times a week so I can pray better. I give one-tenth part of the money I earn.’ ¹³ But the man who gathered taxes stood a long way off. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven. But he hit himself on his chest and said, ‘God, have pity on me! I am a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went back to his house forgiven, and not the other man. For whoever makes himself look more important than he is will find out how little he is worth. Whoever does not try to honor himself will be made important.”