Luke 14
Darby Translation
14 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the rulers, [who was] of the Pharisees, to eat bread on [the] sabbath, that *they* were watching him.
2 And behold, there was a certain dropsical [man] before him.
3 And Jesus answering spoke unto the doctors of the law and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?
4 But they were silent. And taking him he healed him and let him go.
5 And answering he said to them, Of which of you shall an ass or ox fall into a well, that he does not straightway pull him up on the sabbath day?
6 And they were not able to answer him to these things.
7 And he spoke a parable to those that were invited, remarking how they chose out the first places, saying to them,
8 When thou art invited by any one to a wedding, do not lay thyself down in the first place at table, lest perhaps a more honourable than thou be invited by him,
9 and he who invited thee and him come and say to thee, Give place to this [man], and then thou begin with shame to take the last place.
10 But when thou hast been invited, go and put thyself down in the last place, that when he who has invited thee comes, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have honour before all that are lying at table with thee;
11 for every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that abases himself shall be exalted.
12 And he said also to him that had invited him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsfolk, nor rich neighbours, lest it may be they also should invite thee in return, and a recompense be made thee.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call poor, crippled, lame, blind:
14 and thou shalt be blessed; for they have not [the means] to recompense thee; for it shall be recompensed thee in the resurrection of the just.
15 And one of those that were lying at table with [them], hearing these things, said to him, Blessed [is] he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
16 And he said to him, A certain man made a great supper and invited many.
17 And he sent his bondman at the hour of supper to say to those who were invited, Come, for already all things are ready.
18 And all began, without exception, to excuse themselves. The first said to him, I have bought land, and I must go out and see it; I pray thee hold me for excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee hold me for excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and on this account I cannot come.
21 And the bondman came up and brought back word of these things to his lord. Then the master of the house, in anger, said to his bondman, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring here the poor and crippled and lame and blind.
22 And the bondman said, Sir, it is done as thou hast commanded, and there is still room.
23 And the lord said to the bondman, Go out into the ways and fences and compel to come in, that my house may be filled;
24 for I say to you, that not one of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper.
25 And great crowds went with him; and, turning round, he said to them,
26 If any man come to me, and shall not hate his own father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea, and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple;
27 and whoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, desirous of building a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, if he have what [is needed] to complete it;
29 in order that, having laid the foundation of it, and not being able to finish it, all who see it do not begin to mock at him,
30 saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish?
31 Or what king, going on his way to engage in war with another king, does not, sitting down first, take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 and if not, while he is yet far off, having sent an embassy, he asks for terms of peace.
33 Thus then every one of you who forsakes not all that is his own cannot be my disciple.
34 Salt [then] [is] good, but if the salt also has become savourless, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is proper neither for land nor for dung; it is cast out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luke 14
Easy-to-Read Version
Is It Right to Heal on the Sabbath Day?
14 On a Sabbath day, Jesus went to the home of a leading Pharisee to eat with him. The people there were all watching him very closely. 2 A man with a bad disease[a] was there in front of him. 3 Jesus said to the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it right or wrong to heal on the Sabbath day?” 4 But they would not answer his question. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent the man away. 5 Jesus said to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, “If your son or work animal falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you know you would pull him out immediately.” 6 The Pharisees and teachers of the law could say nothing against what he said.
Don’t Make Yourself Important
7 Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So he told this story: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t sit in the most important seat. They may have invited someone more important than you. 9 And if you are sitting in the most important seat, they will come to you and say, ‘Give this man your seat!’ Then you will have to move down to the last place and be embarrassed.
10 “So when someone invites you, go sit in the seat that is not important. Then they will come to you and say, ‘Friend, move up here to this better place!’ What an honor this will be for you in front of all the other guests. 11 Everyone who makes themselves important will be made humble. But everyone who makes themselves humble will be made important.”
You Will Be Rewarded
12 Then Jesus said to the Pharisee who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite only your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. At another time they will pay you back by inviting you to eat with them. 13 Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind. 14 Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when all godly people rise from death.”
A Story About People Invited to a Dinner(A)
15 One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to him, “It will be a great blessing for anyone to eat a meal in God’s kingdom!”
16 Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people. 17 When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. The food is ready.’ 18 But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another man said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 A third man said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’
21 “So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, ‘Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22 “Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’ 23 The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full! 24 I tell you, not one of those people I invited first will eat any of this food I prepared.’”
Decide if You Can Follow Me(B)
25 Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them, 26 “If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life! 27 Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them when they follow me cannot be my follower.
28 “If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job. 29 If you don’t do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.’
31 “If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If he has only 10,000 men, he will try to decide if he is able to defeat the other king who has 20,000 men. 32 If he thinks he cannot defeat the other king, he will send some men to ask for peace while that king’s army is still far away.
33 “It is the same for each of you. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower.
Don’t Lose Your Influence(C)
34 “Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can’t make it salty again. 35 It is worth nothing. You can’t even use it as dirt or dung. People just throw it away.
“You people who hear me, listen!”
Footnotes
- Luke 14:2 disease The man had dropsy, a sickness that causes the body to swell larger and larger.
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2005 by Public Domain
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International