Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

^11 (A)On the way to Jerusalem ^(B)he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{[a] (C)}who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^(D)show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ^(E)praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and ^(F)he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^(G)a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^(H)ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and ^(I)give praise to God except this ^(J)foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^(K)your faith has ^(L)made you well.”^[b]

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(M)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(N)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor ^(O)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[c]

²² And he said to the disciples, ^(P)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(Q)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (R)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24 (S)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(T)in his day.^{[d] 25} But first ^(U)he must suffer many things and ^(V)be rejected by this generation. ^26 (W)Just as it was in the days of ^(X)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27 (Y)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(Z)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29 (AA)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be ^(AB)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, ^(AC)let the one who is on ^(AD)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32 (AE)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (AF)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(AG)keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35 (AH)There will be two women ^(AI)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{[e] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(AJ)“Where the corpse^[f] is, there the vultures^[g] will gather.”

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^(AK)always to pray and not ^(AL)lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^(AM)neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^(AN)‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And ^(AO)will not God give justice to ^(AP)his elect, ^(AQ)who cry to him day and night? ^(AR)(AS)Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them ^(AT)speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^(AU)will he find faith on earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ He also told this parable to some ^(AV)who trusted ^(AW)in themselves that they were righteous, ^(AX)and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men ^(AY)went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, ^(AZ)standing by himself, prayed^{[h] (BA)}thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ^12 (BB)I fast twice a week; ^(BC)I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, ^(BD)standing far off, ^(BE)would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^(BF)beat his breast, saying, ‘God, ^(BG)be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ^(BH)everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”