Luke 5-7

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 Once while Jesus^[a] was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.^{(A) 4} When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”^{(B) 5} Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”^{(C) 6} When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”^{(D) 11} When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.^(E)

Jesus Cleanses a Man with a Skin Disease

¹² Once when he was in one of the cities, a man covered with a skin disease was there. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”^{(F) 13} Then Jesus^[b] stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I am willing. Be made clean.” Immediately the skin disease left him. ¹⁴ And he ordered him to tell no one. “But go, show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”^{(G) 15} But now more than ever the word about Jesus^[c] spread abroad; many crowds were gathering to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.^{(H) 16} Meanwhile, he would slip away to deserted places and pray.^(I)

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ One day while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem were sitting nearby, and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[d](J) 18} Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,^{[e] 19} but, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the crowd^[f] in front of Jesus.^{(K) 20} When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend,^[g] your sins are forgiven you.”^{(L) 21} Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^{(M) 22} When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your stretcher and go to your home.” ²⁵ Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. ²⁶ Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen incredible things today.”^(N)

Jesus Calls Levi

²⁷ After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And he got up, left everything, and followed him.^(O)

²⁹ Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them.^{(P) 30} The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”^{(Q) 31} Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”^(R)

The Question about Fasting

³³ Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”^{(S) 34} Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding attendants fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”^{(T) 36} He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise, not only will one tear the new garment, but the piece from the new will not match the old garment. ³⁷ Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.^{[h] 39} And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says, ‘The old is good.’ ”^[i]

The Question about the Sabbath

6 One Sabbath^[j] while Jesus^[k] was going through some grain fields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.^{(U) 2} But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful^[l] on the Sabbath?”^{(V) 3} Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(W) 4} How he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?”^{(X) 5} Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.^{(Y) 7} The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see whether he would cure on the Sabbath, so that they might find grounds to bring an accusation against him. ⁸ But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand in the middle.” He got up and stood there.^{(Z) 9} Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with fury and began discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles

¹² Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.^{(AA) 13} And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:^{(AB) 14} Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.^(AC)

Jesus Teaches and Heals

¹⁷ He came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.^{(AD) 18} They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹ And everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.^(AE)

Blessings and Woes

²⁰ Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you^[m] on account of the Son of Man.^{(AG) 23} Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.^(AH)

²⁶ “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.^(AK)

Love for Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you;^{(AL) 28} bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.^{(AM) 29} If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again.^{(AN) 31} Do to others as you would have them do to you.^(AO)

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵ Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.^[n] Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.^{(AP) 36} Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;^{(AQ) 38} give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”^(AR)

³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?^{(AS) 40} A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.^{(AT) 41} Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;^{(AU) 44} for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush.^{(AV) 45} The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.^(AW)

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?^{(AX) 47} I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.^{(AY) 48} That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.^{[o] 49} But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 After Jesus^[p] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.^{(AZ) 2} A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. ³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷ therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and, turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”^{(BA) 10} When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

¹¹ Soon afterward^[q] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.^{(BB) 12} As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”^{(BC) 14} Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”^{(BD) 15} The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^[r] gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”^{(BE) 17} This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸ The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples ¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?” ²⁰ When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ” ²¹ Jesus^[s] had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.^{(BF) 22} And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.^{(BG) 23} And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus^[t] began to speak to the crowds about John:^[u] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^[v] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. ²⁶ What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written,

²⁸ “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,^[w] having been baptized with John’s baptism.^{(BH) 30} But the Pharisees and the experts in the law, not having been baptized by him, rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)^(BI)

³¹ “To what, then, will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’;^{(BJ) 34} the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’^{(BK) 35} Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus^[x] to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine.^{(BL) 37} And a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸ She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”^{(BM) 40} Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” ⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.^{(BN) 42} When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus^[y] said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.^{(BO) 45} You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.^{(BP) 47} Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”^{(BQ) 49} But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”^(BR)