Luke 14-16

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!”

Joy in Heaven^(D)

15 Many tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus. ² Then the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain, “Look, this man^[b] welcomes sinners and even eats with them!”

³ Then Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but one of them gets lost. What will you do? You will leave the other 99 sheep there in the field and go out and look for the lost sheep. You will continue to search for it until you find it. ⁵ And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it ⁶ home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, heaven is a happy place when one sinner decides to change. There is more joy for that one sinner than for 99 good people who don’t need to change.

⁸ “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins,^[c] but she loses one of them. She will take a light and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. ⁹ And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, it’s a happy time for the angels of God when one sinner decides to change.”

Story About Two Sons

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Give me now the part of your property that I am supposed to receive someday.’ So the father divided his wealth between his two sons.

¹³ “A few days later the younger son gathered up all that he had and left. He traveled far away to another country, and there he wasted his money living like a fool. ¹⁴ After he spent everything he had, there was a terrible famine throughout the country. He was hungry and needed money. ¹⁵ So he went and got a job with one of the people who lived there. The man sent him into the fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “The son realized that he had been very foolish. He thought, ‘All my father’s hired workers have plenty of food. But here I am, almost dead because I have nothing to eat. ¹⁸ I will leave and go to my father. I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But let me be like one of your hired workers.’ ²⁰ So he left and went to his father.

The Younger Son Returns

“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming and felt sorry for him. So he ran to him and hugged and kissed him. ²¹ The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and good sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring our best calf and kill it so that we can celebrate with plenty to eat. ²⁴ My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to have a party.

The Older Son Complains

²⁵ “The older son had been out in the field. When he came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called to one of the servant boys and asked, ‘What does all this mean?’ ²⁷ The boy said, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father killed the best calf to eat. He is happy because he has his son back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older son was angry and would not go in to the party. So his father went out and begged him to come in. ²⁹ But he said to his father, ‘Look, for all these years I have worked like a slave for you. I have always done what you told me to do, and you never gave me even a young goat for a party with my friends. ³⁰ But then this son of yours comes home after wasting your money on prostitutes, and you kill the best calf for him!’

³¹ “His father said to him, ‘Oh, my son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But this was a day to be happy and celebrate. Your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found.’”

True Wealth

16 Jesus said to his followers, “Once there was a rich man. He hired a manager to take care of his business. Later, he learned that his manager was cheating him. ² So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘I have heard bad things about you. Give me a report of what you have done with my money. You can’t be my manager anymore.’

³ “So, the manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do? My master is taking my job away from me. I am not strong enough to dig ditches. I am too proud to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do! I will do something to make friends, so that when I lose my job, they will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵ “So the manager called in each person who owed the master some money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘I owe him 100 jars^[d] of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Here is your bill. Hurry! Sit down and make the bill less. Write 50 jars.’

⁷ “Then the manager asked another one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘I owe him 100 measures^[e] of wheat.’ Then the manager said to him, ‘Here is your bill; you can make it less. Write 80 measures.’

⁸ “Later, the master told the dishonest manager that he had done a smart thing. Yes, worldly people are smarter in their business with each other than spiritual people are.

⁹ “I tell you, use the worldly things you have now to make ‘friends’ for later. Then, when those things are gone, you will be welcomed into a home that lasts forever. ¹⁰ Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too. ¹¹ If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, you will not be trusted with the true riches. ¹² And if you cannot be trusted with the things that belong to someone else, you will not be given anything of your own.

¹³ “You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one master and love the other. Or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money^[f] at the same time.”

God’s Law Cannot Be Changed^(E)

¹⁴ The Pharisees were listening to all these things. They criticized Jesus because they all loved money. ¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. What people think is important is worth nothing to God.

¹⁶ “Before John the Baptizer came, people were taught the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets. But since the time of John, the Good News about God’s kingdom is being told. And everyone is trying hard to get into it. ¹⁷ But even the smallest part of a letter in the law cannot be changed. It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away.

Divorce and Remarriage

¹⁸ “Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery. And the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery.”

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes. He was so rich that he was able to enjoy all the best things every day. ²⁰ There was also a very poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores. He was often put by the rich man’s gate. ²¹ Lazarus wanted only to eat the scraps of food left on the floor under the rich man’s table. And the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “Later, Lazarus died. The angels took him and placed him in the arms of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ He was sent to the place of death^[g] and was in great pain. He saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his arms. ²⁴ He called, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to me so that he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am suffering in this fire!’

²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember when you lived? You had all the good things in life. But Lazarus had nothing but problems. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. ²⁶ Also, there is a big pit between you and us. No one can cross over to help you, and no one can come here from there.’

²⁷ “The rich man said, ‘Then please, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house on earth. ²⁸ I have five brothers. He could warn my brothers so that they will not come to this place of pain.’

²⁹ “But Abraham said, ‘They have the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets to read; let them learn from that.’

³⁰ “The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone came to them from the dead, then they would decide to change their lives.’

³¹ “But Abraham said to him, ‘If your brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen to someone who comes back from the dead.’”