Luke 6-7

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Is Lord Over the Sabbath Day^(A)

6 One time on a Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through some grain fields. His followers picked the grain, rubbed it in their hands, and ate it. ² Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing that? It is against the Law of Moses to do that on the Sabbath day.”

³ Jesus answered, “You have read about what David did when he and the people with him were hungry. ⁴ David went into God’s house. He took the bread that was offered to God and ate it. And he gave some of the bread to the people with him. This was against the Law of Moses, which says that only the priests can eat that bread.” ⁵ Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath Day^(B)

⁶ On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and taught the people. A man with a crippled right hand was there. ⁷ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They were waiting to see if he would heal on the Sabbath day. They wanted to see him do something wrong so that they could accuse him. ⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to the man with the crippled hand, “Get up and stand here where everyone can see.” The man got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is the right thing to do on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil? Is it right to save a life or to destroy one?”

¹⁰ Jesus looked around at all of them and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed. ¹¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law got so mad they couldn’t think straight. They talked to each other about what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles^(C)

¹² A few days later, Jesus went out to a mountain to pray. He stayed there all night praying to God. ¹³ The next morning he called his followers. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles. These are the ones he chose:

Jesus Teaches and Heals the People^(D)

¹⁷ Jesus and the apostles came down from the mountain. Jesus stood on a flat place. A large crowd of his followers was there. Also, there were many people from all around Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast cities of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They all came to hear Jesus teach and to be healed of their sicknesses. He healed the people who were troubled by evil spirits. ¹⁹ Everyone was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him. Jesus healed them all.

²⁰ Jesus looked at his followers and said,

²² “People will hate you because you belong to the Son of Man. They will make you leave their group. They will insult you. They will think it is wrong even to say your name. When these things happen, know that great blessings belong to you. ²³ You can be happy then and jump for joy, because you have a great reward in heaven. The ancestors of those people did the same things to the prophets.

²⁶ “How bad it is when everyone says nothing but good about you. Just look at the false prophets. Their ancestors always said good things about them.

Love Your Enemies^(E)

²⁷ “But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. ²⁹ If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. ³¹ Do for others what you want them to do for you.

³² “If you love only those who love you, should you get any special praise for doing that? No, even sinners love those who love them! ³³ If you do good only to those who do good to you, should you get any special praise for doing that? No, even sinners do that! ³⁴ If you lend things to people, always expecting to get something back, should you get any special praise for that? No, even sinners lend to other sinners so that they can get back the same amount!

³⁵ “I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful. ³⁶ Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy.

Be Careful About Criticizing Others^(F)

³⁷ “Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. Don’t condemn others, and you will not be condemned. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give to others, and you will receive. You will be given much. It will be poured into your hands—more than you can hold. You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.”

³⁹ Jesus told them this story: “Can a blind man lead another blind man? No. Both of them will fall into a ditch. ⁴⁰ Students are not better than their teacher. But when they have been fully taught, they will be like their teacher.

⁴¹ “Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye? ⁴² You say to your friend, ‘Let me get that little piece of dust out of your eye.’ Why do you say this? Can’t you see that big piece of wood in your own eye? You are a hypocrite. First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend’s eye.

Only Good Trees Produce Good Fruit^(G)

⁴³ “A good tree does not produce bad fruit. And a bad tree does not produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Every tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You won’t find figs on thorny weeds. And you can’t pick grapes from thornbushes! ⁴⁵ Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.

Two Kinds of People^(H)

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but you don’t do what I say? ⁴⁷ The people who come to me, who listen to my teachings and obey them—I will show you what they are like: ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house. He digs deep and builds his house on rock. The floods come, and the water crashes against the house. But the flood cannot move the house, because it was built well.

⁴⁹ “But the people who hear my words and do not obey are like a man who builds a house without preparing a foundation. When the floods come, the house falls down easily and is completely destroyed.”

Jesus Heals an Officer’s Servant^(I)

7 Jesus finished saying all these things to the people. Then he went into Capernaum. ² In Capernaum there was an army officer. He had a servant who was very sick; he was near death. The officer loved the servant very much. ³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some older Jewish leaders to him. He wanted the men to ask Jesus to come and save the life of his servant. ⁴ The men went to Jesus. They begged Jesus to help the officer. They said, “This officer is worthy to have your help. ⁵ He loves our people and he built the synagogue for us.”

⁶ So Jesus went with them. He was coming near the officer’s house when the officer sent friends to say, “Lord, you don’t need to do anything special for me. I am not good enough for you to come into my house. ⁷ That is why I did not come to you myself. You need only to give the order, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ I know this because I am a man under the authority of other men. And I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. And I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. And I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant obeys me.”

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He turned to the people following him and said, “I tell you, this is the most faith I have seen anywhere, even in Israel.”

¹⁰ The group that was sent to Jesus went back to the house. There they found that the servant was healed.

Jesus Brings a Woman’s Son Back to Life

¹¹ The next day Jesus and his followers went to a town called Nain. A big crowd was traveling with them. ¹² When Jesus came near the town gate, he saw some people carrying a dead body. It was the only son of a woman who was a widow. Walking with her were many other people from the town. ¹³ When the Lord saw the woman, he felt very sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry.” ¹⁴ He walked to the open coffin and touched it. The men who were carrying the coffin stopped. Jesus spoke to the dead son: “Young man, I tell you, get up!” ¹⁵ Then the boy sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ Everyone was filled with fear. They began praising God and said, “A great prophet is here with us!” and “God is taking care of his people.”

¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread all over Judea and to all the other places around there.

John Sends Men to Ask Jesus a Question^(J)

¹⁸ John’s followers told him about all these things. John called for two of his followers. ¹⁹ He sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one we heard was coming, or should we wait for someone else?”

²⁰ So the men came to Jesus. They said, “John the Baptizer sent us to you with this question: ‘Are you the one who is coming, or should we wait for someone else?’”

²¹ Right then Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses and diseases. He healed those who had evil spirits and made many who were blind able to see again. ²² Then he said to John’s followers, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind can see. The crippled can walk. People with leprosy are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are brought back to life. And the Good News is being told to the poor. ²³ Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.”

²⁴ When John’s followers left, Jesus began talking to the people about John: “What did you people go out into the desert to see? Someone who is weak, like a stem of grass^[a] blowing in the wind? ²⁵ Really, what did you expect to see? Someone dressed in fine clothes? Of course not. People who wear fancy clothes and live in luxury are all in kings’ palaces. ²⁶ So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, John is a prophet. But I tell you, he is more than that. ²⁷ This Scripture was written about him:

²⁸ I tell you, no one ever born is greater than John. But even the least important person in God’s kingdom is greater than John.”

²⁹ (When the people heard this, they all agreed that God’s teaching was good. Even the tax collectors agreed. These were the people who were baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and experts in the law refused to accept God’s plan for themselves; they did not let John baptize them.)

³¹ “What shall I say about the people of this time? What can I compare them to? What are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group of children calls to the other children and says,

³³ John the Baptizer came and did not eat the usual food or drink wine. And you say, ‘He has a demon inside him.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking. And you say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine! He is a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ ³⁵ But wisdom is shown to be right by those who accept it.”

Simon the Pharisee

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and took a place at the table.

³⁷ There was a sinful woman in that town. She knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So the woman brought some expensive perfume in an alabaster jar. ³⁸ She stood at Jesus’ feet, crying. Then she began to wash his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her hair. She kissed his feet many times and rubbed them with the perfume.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet,^[b] he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”

⁴⁰ In response, Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

Simon said, “Let me hear it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “There were two men. Both men owed money to the same banker. One man owed him 500 silver coins. The other man owed him 50 silver coins. ⁴² The men had no money, so they could not pay their debt. But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. Which one of those two men will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”

Jesus said to him, “You are right.” ⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not greet me with a kiss, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not honor me with oil for my head, but she rubbed my feet with her sweet-smelling oil. ⁴⁷ I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear, because she showed great love. People who are forgiven only a little will love only a little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, “Who does this man think he is? How can he forgive sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”