Instructions

17 Now He said to His disciples, (A)It is inevitable that [a]stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come! (B)It is better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he [b]is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to [c]sin. [d]Be on your guard! (C)If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you (D)seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

(E)The apostles said to (F)the Lord, “Increase our faith!” But (G)the Lord said, “If you [e]had faith [f]the size of (H)a mustard seed, you could say to this (I)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would [g]obey you.

“Now which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and recline at the table to eat’? On the contrary, will he not say to him, ‘(J)Prepare something for me to eat, and properly [h]clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and [i]afterward you [j]may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 10 So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are [k]unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Ten Men with Leprosy Healed

11 While He was (K)on the way to Jerusalem, (L)He was passing [l]between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who (M)stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, (N)Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, (O)Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, (P)glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a (Q)Samaritan. 17 But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 [m]Was no one found who returned to (R)give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; (S)your faith has [n]made you well.”

Second Coming Foretold

20 Now He was questioned by the Pharisees (T)as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with [o](U)signs that can be observed; 21 nor will (V)they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is [p]in your midst.”

22 And He said to the disciples, (W)The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 (X)And they will say to you, ‘Look there,’ or, ‘Look here!’ Do not leave, and do not run after them. 24 (Y)For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part [q]of the sky, shines to the other part [r]of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 (Z)But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 (AA)And just as it happened (AB)in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 [s]It was the same as happened in (AC)the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and [t]brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be [u]just the same on the day that the Son of Man (AD)is revealed. 31 On that day, the one who will be (AE)on the [v]housetop, [w]with his goods in the house, must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back. 32 (AF)Remember Lot’s wife. 33 (AG)Whoever strives to [x]save his [y]life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 (AH)There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36 [[z](AI)Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] 37 And responding, they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, (AJ)Where the body is, there also the [aa]vultures will be gathered.”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:1 Or temptations to sin
  2. Luke 17:2 Lit has been thrown (intensive)
  3. Luke 17:2 Or stumble
  4. Luke 17:3 Lit Take heed for yourselves
  5. Luke 17:6 Lit have
  6. Luke 17:6 Lit like
  7. Luke 17:6 Lit have obeyed
  8. Luke 17:8 Lit belt up
  9. Luke 17:8 Lit after these things
  10. Luke 17:8 Lit will
  11. Luke 17:10 I.e., possibly unworthy of praise
  12. Luke 17:11 Lit through the middle of
  13. Luke 17:18 Lit Were they not found who
  14. Luke 17:19 Or saved you
  15. Luke 17:20 Lit observation
  16. Luke 17:21 Or among you
  17. Luke 17:24 Lit under heaven; i.e., the lowest heaven, the sky
  18. Luke 17:24 Lit under heaven; i.e., the lowest heaven, the sky
  19. Luke 17:28 Lit In the same way as
  20. Luke 17:29 I.e., burning sulfur
  21. Luke 17:30 Lit according to the same things
  22. Luke 17:31 Housetops were flat living areas
  23. Luke 17:31 Lit and his
  24. Luke 17:33 Or secure
  25. Luke 17:33 Or soul
  26. Luke 17:36 Early mss do not contain this v
  27. Luke 17:37 Or eagles

Causing Others to Sin(A)

17 Jesus[a] told his disciples, “It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

“Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Faith and Obedience

Then the apostles told the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of[b] a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

“Suppose a man among you has a servant plowing or watching sheep. Would he say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and have something to eat’? Of course not. Instead, he would say to him, ‘Get dinner ready for me, and put on your apron and wait on me until I eat and drink. Then you can eat and drink.’ He doesn’t praise the servant for doing what was commanded, does he? 10 That’s the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.’”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 One day, Jesus[c] was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem. 12 As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 When Jesus[d] saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean. 15 But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’[e] feet and thanked him. Now that man[f] was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? 18 Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?” 19 Then he told the man,[g] “Get up, and go home! Your faith has saved you.”[h]

The Coming of the Kingdom(B)

20 Once Jesus[i] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display. 21 People[j] won’t be saying, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ because now the kingdom of God is among[k] you.”

22 Then Jesus[l] told the disciples, “The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you,[m] but you won’t see it. 23 People[n] will say to you, ‘Look! There he is!’ or ‘Look! Here he is!’ But don’t go and chase after him. 24 Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.[o] 25 But first he must suffer a great deal and be rejected by those living today.[p]

26 “Just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be in the Son of Man’s time. 27 People[q] were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 So it was in Lot’s time. People[r] were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the very day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.

31 “The person who is on the housetop that day must not come down to get his belongings out of his house. The person in the field, too, must not turn back to what’s left behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to save his life[s] will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, two will be seated on the same couch[t] that night. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind. 35 Two women will be grinding grain[u] together. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind.”[v]

37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord, will this take place?”[w]

He told them, “Wherever there’s a corpse, that’s where the vultures[x] will gather.”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:1 Lit. He
  2. Luke 17:6 Lit. faith of
  3. Luke 17:11 Lit. he
  4. Luke 17:14 Lit. he
  5. Luke 17:16 Lit. his
  6. Luke 17:16 Lit. Now he
  7. Luke 17:19 Lit. him
  8. Luke 17:19 Or has made you well
  9. Luke 17:20 Lit. he
  10. Luke 17:21 Lit. They
  11. Luke 17:21 Or within
  12. Luke 17:22 Lit. he
  13. Luke 17:22 The Gk. lacks is with you
  14. Luke 17:23 Lit. They
  15. Luke 17:24 Lit. day; other mss. lack in his day
  16. Luke 17:25 Lit. by this generation
  17. Luke 17:27 Lit. They
  18. Luke 17:28 Lit. They
  19. Luke 17:33 Other mss. read to make his life secure
  20. Luke 17:34 I.e. an armless divan upon which guests reclined to partake of a meal
  21. Luke 17:35 The Gk. lacks grain
  22. Luke 17:35 Other mss. read left behind. 36 Two people will be in a field. One will be taken, and the other will be left behind
  23. Luke 17:37 The Gk. lacks will this take place
  24. Luke 17:37 Or eagles