Luke 14:25-17:10

EasyEnglish Bible

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.^[a]

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.^[b]

You have ears. So listen well to what I say.’

15 One day, many bad people and men who took taxes from people were coming round Jesus. They all wanted to hear what Jesus was saying. ² The Pharisees and teachers of God's Law did not like this. ‘This man is friendly with people that do not obey God,’ they said. ‘He even eats with them in their homes.’

A story about a sheep that a man has lost^[c]

³ So Jesus told them this story: ⁴ ‘Think about a man who has 100 sheep.^[d] He may lose one of them. What does he do then? He leaves all his other sheep in the fields. Then he goes. He looks for the sheep that he has lost. He looks until he finds it. ⁵ When he finds the sheep, he is very happy. He lifts it up and he puts it across his shoulders. ⁶ Then he carries it back home. He speaks to all his friends and to the people that live near him. He says, “I have found the sheep that I lost. So come to my house and we can all be happy together.” ⁷ When one person stops doing wrong things, it is like that. It makes those that live with God in heaven very happy. They will be happier about that one person, than about 99 people who already obey God.’

A story about a coin that a woman has lost

⁸ Jesus told them another story: ‘Now think about a woman who has ten valuable coins.^[e] She may lose one of them. What does she do then? She lights a lamp and she sweeps inside her house. She looks carefully until she finds the coin. ⁹ Then she speaks to all her friends and to those that live near to her. She says to them, “I have found the coin that I lost. So come to my house and we can all be happy together.”

¹⁰ When one person stops doing wrong things, it is like that. It makes God's angels and everyone in heaven very happy.’

A story about two sons

¹¹ Jesus then told another story: ‘There was a man that had two sons.^{[f] 12} The younger son went to his father and said to him, “Father, please give me now my part of your things.” So the father gave both sons the part of his things that each of them should have. ¹³ After a few days, the younger son sold what his father had given to him. Then he took all the money and left home. He went on a long journey to a country far away. There, he did whatever he wanted to do and wasted all his money. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was no rain in that country. There was almost no food anywhere. So the young man had nothing to eat. ¹⁵ He went to a man who lived in that country. He asked to work for him. So the man sent him into his fields to give food to his pigs. ¹⁶ Nobody gave him anything to eat. He even wanted to eat the food that the pigs were eating. But he had nothing.

¹⁷ Then the son began to think about what he had done. He said to himself, “My father has many servants, and they have plenty of food to eat. They even have more food than they need. But I will die here because I do not have any food. ¹⁸ So I will go to my father and tell him, ‘I have done bad things against God, and I have done bad things against you. ¹⁹ So I am not good enough for you to call me your son any longer. Instead, please accept me as one of your servants.’ ”

²⁰ So he went off to return to his father. But he was still a long way from the house when his father saw him. He felt very sorry for his son and he ran towards him. Then he put his arms round his son and he kissed him. ²¹ “Father,” the son said, “I have done bad things against God and against you. So I am not good enough for you to call me your son.” ²² But the father shouted to his servants. “Hurry!” he said. “Fetch the most beautiful coat that we have. Put it on him and also put a ring on his finger. Put shoes on his feet. ²³ Fetch the young cow that we keep ready to eat on a special day. It is already fat. Kill it and prepare it. We will eat a big meal and we will be happy together. ²⁴ I thought that my son here was dead. But now he has returned to me and he is alive! I thought that he had left me for all time. But now he has come home.” Then they all began to be happy together.

²⁵ While these things were happening, the older son was working in the field.^[g] On his way back to the house, he heard music. People were dancing. ²⁶ So he asked one of the servants, “What is happening?” ²⁷ The servant replied, “Your brother has returned home. Your father has killed the fat young cow for him. He did this because your brother is alive and he is well.” ²⁸ When the older brother heard this, he was very angry. He would not go into the house. So his father came out. “Please come in to be happy with us,” he said. ²⁹ “Listen,” the older son replied, “I have worked a lot for you for many years. I have always obeyed you. But you never even killed a young goat for me so that I could be happy with my friends. We could have had a meal together. ³⁰ But now this other son of yours has returned. He has wasted all the money that you gave to him. He has spent it on prostitutes. But you have even killed the fat young cow for him.” ³¹ “My son,” his father said, “you are always with me. All the things that I have are yours. ³² We thought that your brother was dead. But now he has returned to us alive. We thought that he had left us for all time. But now he has come home. So we must all be happy together.” ’

A story about a man who thought carefully

16 Jesus told another story to his disciples: ‘A rich man had a servant who worked for him. The servant took care of the money and things that belonged to the man. Then some people told the rich man that his servant was wasting his master's things. ² So the master sent someone to bring his servant to him. He said to his servant, “I am hearing bad stories about you. So write down everything that you have done with my money and my things. Then you must stop working for me.”

³ “I must think about what I can do,” the servant said to himself. “My master will not let me work for him any longer. I am not strong enough to dig in the ground. I would be ashamed to ask other people for money. ⁴ I must stop working for my master. But I know what I can do so that people will then accept me into their homes.”

⁵ Many people had a debt that they had not paid back to the master. So the servant told those people to come to him. He asked the first man, “How big is your debt to my master?” ⁶ The man replied, “I have to give him 100 barrels of oil.”^[h] The servant said to him, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper. Sit down now and write 50 barrels there.”^[i]

⁷ He asked the next man, “How big is your debt to my master?” The man replied, “I have to give him 100 baskets of wheat.” The servant replied, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper and write 80 baskets.” ’^[j]

⁸ Jesus then said, ‘The servant in the story was not honest. But his master spoke well about what he had done. It would help the servant later in his life. People that do not obey God think carefully. They know how to do well with people who are like themselves. But people who live in God's light often think less carefully. ⁹ So I tell you this. People may get money in wrong ways. But you should use it to do good to those who need help. Then they will be your friends. You will die, one day. Then those people will be happy to see you in that place where people live for all time.

¹⁰ If you can trust a person with a very small thing, you can also trust him with bigger things. And if you cannot trust a person with a very small thing, you cannot trust him with big things. ¹¹ So if people cannot trust you with money in this world, nobody will trust you with really valuable things. ¹² And if people cannot trust you with other people's things, nobody will give you things for yourself.

¹³ A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other one. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.’

¹⁴ The Pharisees heard all this. They loved money very much, so they laughed at Jesus. They said to him, ‘You are wrong.’ ¹⁵ Jesus replied, ‘You are happy when people like you. You want them to think that you are good people. But God sees inside you. He knows what you are thinking. The things that many people think are valuable are not valuable to God. He hates those things.’^[k]

¹⁶ Jesus then said, ‘The books of God's Law and God's prophets spoke God's message until John the Baptist came. Since then, God's servants tell people the good news about the kingdom of God. Everyone is now trying very much to get into that kingdom. ¹⁷ But this does not mean that anyone can destroy God's Law. One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But until that time, nobody can remove even a small thing from God's Law.

¹⁸ A man must not send his wife away and then marry another woman. If he does that, it is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’

Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man

¹⁹ Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. ²⁰ There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. ²¹ He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. ²² Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. ²³ He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. ²⁴ So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”

²⁵ Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. ²⁶ But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”

²⁷ The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸ I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”

²⁹ Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”^[l]

³⁰ The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”

³¹ But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’^[m]

17 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Some bad things in this world will make other people do wrong things. You can be sure about that. But God will punish anyone who makes these bad things happen. ² These other people may not seem to be important.^[n] But you must not make them do wrong things. Do not do that! It would be better if someone tied a big stone round your neck, and then he threw you into the sea.^[o]

³ Be careful how you live. If your Christian brother does something wrong, speak to him. Tell him that he has done a bad thing. He may say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he says that, you must forgive him. ⁴ Your brother may do a bad thing to you seven times in one day. He may turn to you each time and say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he does that, you must forgive him every time.’

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Help us to believe more and more in God.’

⁶ The Lord replied, ‘You may believe in God only a very little bit, like a very small seed. Even if you only believe that little bit, you could say to this tree, “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree would obey you.

⁷ Think about this. You may have a servant that is ploughing your land. Or you may have a servant that is taking care of your sheep. When he comes in from his work in the evening, you would not say to him, “Sit down and eat.” ⁸ No, you would not say that. You would say to your servant, “Prepare my meal for me. Dress yourself properly and bring the food to me. I will eat and drink first. You can eat when I have finished.” ⁹ Servants should do what their masters tell them to do. When they do that, their masters do not need to thank them. ¹⁰ It is the same with you. The Master tells you what you should do. So when you have done all of it, you should say, “We are not special servants. We have only done what we should do.” ’