Luke 14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Heals the Man with Edema
14 On one occasion when Jesus[a] was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.(A) 2 Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had edema. 3 And Jesus asked the experts in the law and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?”(B) 4 But they were silent. So Jesus[b] took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child[c] or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?”(C) 6 And they could not reply to this.
Humility and Hospitality
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.(D) 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host,(E) 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.(F) 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”(G)
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.(H) 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Great Dinner
15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”(I) 16 Then Jesus[d] said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’(J) 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ 20 Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’(K) 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’(L) 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you,[e] none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’ ”(M)
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.(N) 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.(O) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.(P)
About Salt
34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?[f](Q) 35 It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. If you have ears to hear, then hear!”(R)
Luke 14
EasyEnglish Bible
Jesus goes to the house of a Pharisee
14 One Jewish day of rest, Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees. This man had asked him to come and to eat a meal with him. The people there were all watching him carefully. 2 A sick man came up to Jesus. His arms and legs had grown fat, because they were full of water. 3 So Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and to the teachers of God's Law. He asked them, ‘Is it right for us to make someone well on our day of rest, or not?’ 4 But they would not say anything. So Jesus took the sick man and he made him well again. Then he let him go away.
5 Then Jesus asked the people, ‘Maybe one of you has a son or an animal that falls into a well on our day of rest. What will you do? You will pull the child or the animal out of the well immediately.’ 6 When Jesus said this, they could not say anything else.
7 Jesus watched how people chose the best places to sit at the meal.[a] So he told this story to those who were sitting there:
8 ‘When someone asks you to come to a special meal, do not sit in the best place. A man that is more important than you may come later. 9 Then the man that asked you to the meal might say to you, “Give the best place to this man.” Then you will feel ashamed that you sat there. You will have to move to the lowest place and sit there. 10 Instead, when someone asks you to a meal, you should do this. Go and sit in the least important place. Then the man that asked you to the meal will see you there. And he may say to you, “My friend, move up here to a better place.” Everyone who is there at the meal will see this. So they will know that you are an important person. 11 It will be the same in the kingdom of God. Some people lift themselves up to be important. God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’
12 Then Jesus said to the man who had asked him to the meal, ‘When you give a meal at midday or in the evening, do not ask your friends to come. Do not ask your brothers or your family. And do not ask the rich people that live near you to come. If you do, they will later ask you to eat at their house. This will pay you for the meal that you gave to them. 13 Instead, when you prepare a big meal, you should ask the poor people to come. Ask people that have lost an arm or a leg. Ask people that cannot walk very well, and people that cannot see. 14 Then God will make you happy. Those people cannot pay you for the meal you have given to them. Instead, God will pay you, on the day when he makes good people become alive again.’
A story about a big meal
15 The people who were sitting at the meal heard what Jesus said. One of them said to Jesus, ‘One day, there will be a big meal in the kingdom of God. How happy are those people who will eat together at that big meal.’
16 Jesus told this story to him: ‘One day an important man prepared a big meal.[b] He asked many people to come to eat in his house. 17 When the meal was ready, he sent his servant out to tell those people, “Come now, the meal is ready for you.” 18 But then each person gave a reason why he could not come to the meal. The first man said, “I have bought a field, so I must go out and see it. Please say that I am sorry. Tell your master that I cannot come to his meal.” 19 The next man said, “I have bought five pairs of oxen. So I am just going out to see if they work well together. Please say that I am sorry. Tell your master that I cannot come to his meal.” 20 The third man said, “I have just married a wife. That is why I cannot come to the meal.”
21 The servant went back to his master. He told him what everyone had said. Then the master of the house was very angry. “Go out quickly to every street in the town,” he said to his servant. “Bring the poor people here. Bring those that have lost an arm or a leg. And bring those that cannot walk well, and those that cannot see.” 22 The servant did that. Then he came back to his master. “Sir,” he said, “I have asked all those people to come to your meal. But there are still some places at the table.” 23 The master spoke to his servant again. “Go to the roads and fields outside the town, and look for people there. Command them all to come here, so that my house will be full. 24 But I tell you this. None of the people that I asked at the beginning will eat any of my food.” ’
What it will be like to obey Jesus
25 Crowds of many people were travelling with Jesus on his journey. So he turned and said to them, 26 ‘If someone wants to obey me, he must live like this: He must love me more than he loves his own father and mother. He must love me more than he loves his wife and his children. He must love me more than he loves his brothers and his sisters. He must even love me more than he loves himself. If he does not do that, he cannot be one of my disciples. 27 He must live like a person that carries his own cross to go and die. If he is not ready to die for me, he cannot be one of my disciples.[c]
28 Here is an example. Perhaps one of you wants to build a tall building. Before you start to build, you will sit down. You will decide how much it will cost. Then you need to know if you have enough money to finish the work. 29 If you do not do this, you may not have enough money. You may put the first stones in the ground, but then you cannot finish the building. If you have to stop, other people will laugh at you. They will say to each other, 30 “That man is a fool. He started to build, but he could not finish the work.” ’
31 Then Jesus gave them another example. ‘Perhaps a king wants to fight a war against another king. But before he goes to fight, he sits down. He thinks to himself. “Can I win this war? My army is large, with 10,000 men. But the other king has twice as many soldiers in his army. 32 No, I cannot do it. I know I cannot beat the other king.” So, while the stronger king is far away, he will send a man to him with a message. He will tell the other king that he does not want to fight. He will ask him what he can do so that they become friends together.’
33 Jesus then said, ‘It is like that for all of you, if you want to be my disciples. You must leave everything that you have behind you.
34 Remember this. Salt is good. But if it is not salty any more, it is no longer any good. You cannot make it salty again. 35 You would not even put it on your field. It cannot make the soil good. You would just throw it away.[d]
You have ears. So listen well to what I say.’
Footnotes
- 14:7 The best places were the seats nearest to the man that had asked them to come. The most important people sat there and they received their food first.
- 14:16 This big meal is like a picture. God asks all people to come to a big meal where he lives. They should be ready when he tells them to come. The people that said, ‘No’ were really saying ‘No’ to Jesus.
- 14:27 Jesus used this example to say how disciples should think about their lives. Disciples are those people that obey Jesus. They should say ‘No’ to everything except what Jesus wants. So then they can do what Jesus wants.
- 14:35 Those that obey Jesus are like salt. If we leave everything behind us, we are of use to him. But we might love other people or things more than we love him. And if we do, we are of no use to him.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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