Chronological

Be Thankful

¹¹ Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. He went from Galilee to Samaria. ¹² He came into a small town, and ten men met him there. They did not come close to him, because they all had leprosy. ¹³ But the men shouted, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!”

¹⁴ When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”^[a]

While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. ¹⁵ When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. ¹⁶ He bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (He was a Samaritan.) ¹⁷ Jesus said, “Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? ¹⁸ This man is not even one of our people. Is he the only one who came back to give praise to God?” ¹⁹ Then Jesus said to the man, “Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed.”

The Coming of God’s Kingdom^(A)

²⁰ Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will God’s kingdom come?”

Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you can see it. ²¹ People will not say, ‘Look, God’s kingdom is here!’ or ‘There it is!’ No, God’s kingdom is here with you.^[b]”

²² Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not be able to. ²³ People will say to you, ‘Look, there it is!’ or ‘Look, here it is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search. ²⁴ “When the Son of Man comes again, you will know it. On that day he will shine like lightning flashes across the sky. ²⁵ But first, the Son of Man must suffer many things. The people of today will refuse to accept him.

²⁶ “When the Son of Man comes again, it will be the same as it was when Noah lived. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, and getting married even on the day when Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all.

²⁸ “It will be the same as during the time of Lot, when God destroyed Sodom. Those people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building houses for themselves. ²⁹ They were doing these things even on the day when Lot left town. Then fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. ³⁰ This is exactly how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.

³¹ “On that day if a man is on his roof, he will not have time to go inside and get his things. If a man is in the field, he cannot go back home. ³² Remember what happened to Lot’s wife^[c]!

³³ “Whoever tries to keep the life they have will lose it. But whoever gives up their life will save it. ³⁴ That night there may be two people sleeping in one room. One will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There may be two women working together. One will be taken and the other will be left.” ^36 [d]

³⁷ The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”

Jesus answered, “It’s like looking for a dead body—you will find it where the vultures are gathering above.”

God Will Answer His People

18 Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. He used this story to teach them: ² “Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. ³ In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, ‘There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!’ ⁴ But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think. ⁵ But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don’t give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.’”

⁶ The Lord said, “Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said. ⁷ God’s people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. ⁸ I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find people on earth who believe in him?”

Being Right With God

⁹ There were some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else. Jesus used this story to teach them: ¹⁰ “One time there was a Pharisee and a tax collector. One day they both went to the Temple to pray. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood alone, away from the tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he said, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people. I am not like men who steal, cheat, or commit adultery. I thank you that I am better than this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get!’

¹³ “The tax collector stood alone too. But when he prayed, he would not even look up to heaven. He felt very humble before God. He said, ‘O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, when this man finished his prayer and went home, he was right with God. But the Pharisee, who felt that he was better than others, was not right with God. People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”