Jesus at a Pharisee’s House^(A)

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee,^(B) he was being carefully watched.^{(C) 2} There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law,^(D) “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”^{(E) 4} But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”^{(F) 6} And they had nothing to say.

⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table,^(G) he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”^(H)

¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,^{(I) 14} and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”^(J)

The Parable of the Great Banquet^(K)

¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast^(L) in the kingdom of God.”^(M)

¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’^(N)

²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”^(O)

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.^{(P) 27} And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.^(Q)

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.^(R)

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?^{(S) 35} It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.^(T)

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(U)

The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan^(A)—that is, in the Arabah^(B)—opposite Suph, between Paran^(C) and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. ² (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb^(D) to Kadesh Barnea^(E) by the Mount Seir^(F) road.)^(G)

³ In the fortieth year,^(H) on the first day of the eleventh month,^(I) Moses proclaimed^(J) to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. ⁴ This was after he had defeated Sihon^(K) king of the Amorites,^(L) who reigned in Heshbon,^(M) and at Edrei had defeated Og^(N) king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.^(O)

⁵ East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab,^(P) Moses began to expound this law, saying:

⁶ The Lord our God said to us^(Q) at Horeb,^(R) “You have stayed long enough^(S) at this mountain. ⁷ Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites;^(T) go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah,^(U) in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev^(V) and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites^(W) and to Lebanon,^(X) as far as the great river, the Euphrates.^{(Y) 8} See, I have given you this land^(Z).^(AA) Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore^(AB) he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

The Appointment of Leaders

⁹ At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden^(AC) for me to carry alone.^{(AD) 10} The Lord your God has increased^(AE) your numbers^(AF) so that today you are as numerous^(AG) as the stars in the sky.^{(AH) 11} May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase^(AI) you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!^{(AJ) 12} But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?^{(AK) 13} Choose some wise, understanding and respected men^(AL) from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”

¹⁴ You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”

¹⁵ So I took^(AM) the leading men of your tribes,^(AN) wise and respected men,^(AO) and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders^(AP) of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials.^{(AQ) 16} And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge^(AR) fairly,^(AS) whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.^{(AT) 17} Do not show partiality^(AU) in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone,^(AV) for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”^{(AW) 18} And at that time I told you everything you were to do.^(AX)

Spies Sent Out

¹⁹ Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites^(AY) through all that vast and dreadful wilderness^(AZ) that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.^{(BA) 20} Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession^(BB) of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid;^(BC) do not be discouraged.”^(BD)

²² Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy^(BE) out the land^(BF) for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”

²³ The idea seemed good to me; so I selected^(BG) twelve of you, one man from each tribe. ²⁴ They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol^(BH) and explored it. ²⁵ Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported,^(BI) “It is a good land^(BJ) that the Lord our God is giving us.”^(BK)

Rebellion Against the Lord

²⁶ But you were unwilling to go up;^(BL) you rebelled^(BM) against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You grumbled^(BN) in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller^(BO) than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites^(BP) there.’”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid^(BQ) of them.^{(BR) 30} The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight^(BS) for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried^(BT) you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”^(BU)

³² In spite of this,^(BV) you did not trust^(BW) in the Lord your God, ³³ who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day,^(BX) to search^(BY) out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

³⁴ When the Lord heard^(BZ) what you said, he was angry^(CA) and solemnly swore:^{(CB) 35} “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land^(CC) I swore to give your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb^(CD) son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.^(CE)”

³⁷ Because of you the Lord became angry^(CF) with me also and said, “You shall not enter^(CG) it, either. ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua^(CH) son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage^(CI) him, because he will lead^(CJ) Israel to inherit^(CK) it. ³⁹ And the little ones that you said would be taken captive,^(CL) your children who do not yet know^(CM) good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^[a](CN)”

⁴¹ Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

⁴² But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”^(CO)

⁴³ So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees^(CP) and beat you down from Seir^(CQ) all the way to Hormah.^{(CR) 45} You came back and wept before the Lord,^(CS) but he paid no attention^(CT) to your weeping and turned a deaf ear^(CU) to you. ⁴⁶ And so you stayed in Kadesh^(CV) many days—all the time you spent there.