Chronological
11 As they continued onward toward Jerusalem, they reached the border between Galilee and Samaria, 12 and as they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, sir, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!” And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared.
15 One of them came back to Jesus, shouting, “Glory to God, I’m healed!” 16 He fell flat on the ground in front of Jesus, face downward in the dust, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a despised[a] Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the nine? 18 Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”
19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God begin?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God isn’t ushered in with visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘It has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country.’ For the Kingdom of God is within you.”[b]
22 Later he talked again about this with his disciples. “The time is coming when you will long for me[c] to be with you even for a single day, but I won’t be here,” he said. 23 “Reports will reach you that I have returned and that I am in this place or that; don’t believe it or go out to look for me. 24 For when I return, you will know it beyond all doubt. It will be as evident as the lightning that flashes across the skies. 25 But first I must suffer terribly and be rejected by this whole nation.
26 “When I return[d] the world will be as indifferent to the things of God as the people were in Noah’s day. 27 They ate and drank and married—everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the hour of my return.[e]
31 “Those away from home that day must not return to pack; those in the fields must not return to town— 32 remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it. 34 That night two men will be asleep in the same room, and one will be taken away, the other left. 35-36 Two women will be working together at household tasks; one will be taken, the other left; and so it will be with men working side by side in the fields.”
37 “Lord, where will they be taken?” the disciples asked.
Jesus replied, “Where the body is, the vultures gather!”[f]
18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes.
2 “There was a city judge,” he said, “a very godless man who had great contempt for everyone. 3 A widow of that city came to him frequently to appeal for justice against a man who had harmed her. 4-5 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she got on his nerves.
“‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, ‘but this woman bothers me. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, 7 don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night? 8 Yes! He will answer them quickly! But the question is: When I, the Messiah,[g] return, how many will I find who have faith and are praying?”
9 Then he told this story to some who boasted of their virtue and scorned everyone else:
10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, and the other a cheating tax collector. 11 The proud Pharisee ‘prayed’ this prayer: ‘Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t commit adultery, 12 I go without food twice a week, and I give to God a tenth of everything I earn.’
13 “But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! For the proud shall be humbled, but the humble shall be honored.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.