God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[a]so many thousands of ^[b]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(A)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (B)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[c]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^(C)the housetops.

⁴ “I say to you, ^(D)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will ^[d]warn you whom to fear: ^(E)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^[e](F)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶ Are not ^(G)five sparrows sold for two ^[f]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ^7 (H)Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who ^(I)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(J)he who denies Me before men will be denied ^(K)before the angels of God. ^10 (L)And everyone who ^[g]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before ^(M)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^(N)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(O)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

¹³ Someone ^[h]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^(P)Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “^(Q)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^(R)you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(S)You fool! This very night ^[i](T)your soul is required of you; and ^(U)now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who ^(V)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(W)For this reason I say to you, ^[j]do not worry about your ^[k]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(X)ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(Y)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single ^[l](Z)hour to his ^[m]life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(AB)You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^(AC)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[n]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and ^(AD)these things will be added to you. ^32 (AE)Do not be afraid, ^(AF)little flock, for ^(AG)your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(AH)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^(AI)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For ^(AJ)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[o](AK)Be dressed in ^(AL)readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(AM)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(AN)he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ^38 (AO)Whether he comes in the ^[p]second watch, or even in the ^[q]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(AP)But ^[r]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^[s](AQ)broken into. ^40 (AR)You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^[t]expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^(AS)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(AT)the Lord said, “^(AU)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(AV)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^[u]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(AW)slave whom his ^[v]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ^[w]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^(AX)receive many lashes, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(AY)know it, and committed deeds worthy of ^[x]a flogging, will receive but few. ^(AZ)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

⁴⁹ “I ^[y]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[z]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(BA)baptism to ^[aa]undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (BB)Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(BC)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(BD)When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(BE)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(BF)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ^[ab]why do you not analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(BG)why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(BH)while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ^[ac]settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last ^[ad](BI)cent.”

Call to Repent

13 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood ^(BJ)Pilate had ^[ae]mixed with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus said to them, “^(BK)Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? ³ I tell you, no, but unless you ^[af]repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(BL)Siloam fell and killed them were worse ^[ag](BM)culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶ And He began telling this parable: “A man had ^(BN)a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree ^[ah]without finding any. ^(BO)Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ ⁸ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹ and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Healing on the Sabbath

¹⁰ And He was ^(BP)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had ^(BQ)a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” ¹³ And He ^(BR)laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began ^(BS)glorifying God. ¹⁴ But ^(BT)the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus ^(BU)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “^(BV)There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵ But ^(BW)the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, ^(BX)does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? ¹⁶ And this woman, ^(BY)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom ^(BZ)Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and ^(CA)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

¹⁸ So ^(CB)He was saying, “^(CC)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and ^(CD)the birds of the ^[ai]air nested in its branches.”

²⁰ And again He said, “^(CE)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ^21 (CF)It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(CG)three ^[aj]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

Teaching in the Villages

²² And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and ^(CH)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, ²⁴ “^(CI)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ Once the head of the house gets up and ^(CJ)shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘^(CK)Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘^(CL)I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will ^(CM)begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; ²⁷ and He will say, ‘I tell you, ^(CN)I do not know where you are from; ^(CO)depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ ^28 (CP)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. ²⁹ And they ^(CQ)will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(CR)some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

³¹ Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for ^(CS)Herod wants to kill You.” ³² And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I ^[ak](CT)reach My goal.’ ³³ Nevertheless ^(CU)I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a ^(CV)prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. ^34 (CW)O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(CX)just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! ³⁵ Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘^(CY)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”