Read the Gospels in 40 Days
13 Some people were there at that time who told Jesus what Pilate had done. He had killed some of the people of Galilee and put their blood with the blood of their sacrifices to God.
2 Jesus answered, `Do you think it was because they were worse than all the other people in Galilee?
3 I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, then you will all die as they did.
4 Eighteen men died when the high house in Siloam fell on them. Do you think they were worse than all the other men who lived in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, you will all die as they did.'
6 Then Jesus told this story: `A man had a fruit tree on his farm. He came to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
7 He said to the man who cared for the trees, "For three years I have come to look for fruit on this tree, but I have not found any. Cut it down. Why should it spoil my farmland?"
8 The man who cared for the trees answered, "Sir, let it stay one more year. I will dig around it and put good soil around it.
9 If it has fruit on it next year, that will be good. But if it has no fruit, you can have it cut down." '
10 Jesus was teaching in one of the meeting houses on the Sabbath day.
11 A woman was there who had a spirit that had made her sick for eighteen years. She had to bend down all the time and could not stand up straight.
12 Jesus saw her and called her to come to him. Then he said, `Woman, you are healed. You are not sick any longer.'
13 Jesus put his hands on her, and right away she stood up straight. And she praised God.
14 The ruler of the meeting house was angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. He said to the people, `There are six days to work. You should come to be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.'
15 The Lord said to him, `You are not true to yourselves! Every one of you unties his cow or horse and takes it to the water to drink on the Sabbath day. Do you not?
16 This woman belongs to Abraham's family. Satan has tied her for eighteen years. Is it not right that she should be set free on the Sabbath day?'
17 When he said that, all those who had talked against him were ashamed. All the other people were very glad for all the wonderful things Jesus did.
18 He went on to say, `What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I say it is like?
19 It is like this. A man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field. It grew up big like a tree. The birds came and lived in its branches.'
20 Then Jesus said again, `What else is the kingdom of God like?
21 It is like this. A woman took yeast and mixed it with many cups of flour. The yeast went all through the flour.'
22 Jesus went through the towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem. He was teaching the people as he went.
23 A man asked him, `Sir, will only a few people be saved?'
24 Jesus answered, `Try hard to go in by the small gate. I tell you, many will want to go in but they will not be able.
25 The master of the house will get up and lock the door. Then you will be standing outside. You will begin to knock on the door and call, "Sir, open the door for us!" But he will answer, "I do not know where you belong."
26 Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you. You taught in our streets."
27 But he will say, "I tell you, I do not know where you belong. Go away from me all you who do wrong! "
28 `You will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. And you will see yourselves thrown out. Then you will cry and make a noise with your teeth.
29 People will come from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south. They will sit down to eat in the kingdom of God.
30 Yes, some people who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.'
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus. They said to him, `Go away from here. Herod wants to kill you.'
32 He said, `Go and tell that fox, "I drive bad spirits out of people and heal people. I do it today and tomorrow. On the third day I will finish what I am doing."
33 But I must go on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day. A prophet of God cannot be killed outside of Jerusalem.
34 `O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets of God. You throw stones to kill men who are sent to you. How often I have wanted to gather your people together as a mother hen gathers her little ones under her wings. But you would not come!
35 Now you are left alone in your house. I tell you this. You will not see me again until the time when you say, "God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord." '
14 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat at the house of a ruler. He was a ruler of the Pharisees. They were watching Jesus.
2 man stood in front of him. He was sick. His body was filled with water.
3 Jesus asked the teachers of God's law and the Pharisees, `Is it right to heal a person on the Sabbath day or not?'
4 They did not answer. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent him away.
5 Jesus said to them, `If your horse or cow falls into a hole, which one of you will not pull him out right away on the Sabbath day?'
6 They could not answer that.
7 Jesus told a story to the people who were asked to eat at the house. He saw that they chose to sit at the best places.
8 He said to them, `When you are called to a wedding, do not sit in the best place. It may be that a better man than you has been called.
9 Then the man who called you both will come and say to you, "Get up and let this man sit here." Then you will be ashamed. And you will go and sit down in the last place.
10 But when you are asked to go to a wedding, go and sit down in the last place. Then when the man who called you comes, he will say to you, "Friend, come to a better place." Then all the people who sit at the table will see how he respects you.
11 `Everyone who puts himself up in a high place will be brought down to a low place. And everyone who puts himself down in a low place will be brought up to a high place.'
12 Then Jesus said to the man who had asked him to come, `When you make a dinner or a feast, do not ask your friends, or your brothers, or the people in your family, or your rich neighbours. They will repay you by making a dinner for you.
13 But when you make a dinner, ask the people who are poor, hurt, lame, or blind.
14 You will be made happy because they cannot pay you. You will be repaid when all good people are raised from death.'
15 One of those who was sitting at the table heard this. He said, `Happy is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!'
16 But Jesus said to him, `A man made a big feast and asked many people to come.
17 When the feast was ready, he sent his servant to tell the people who had been asked. He said, "Come. Everything is ready."
18 But the people all began to make excuses. The first one said, `I have bought a farm. I must go and see it. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."
19 Another man said, "I have bought ten oxen. I am going to see them. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."
20 Another one said, "I have married a woman, and so I cannot come."
21 `The servant came and told his master. Then the master was very angry. He said to his servant, "Go out quickly. Go on all the streets in the city. Bring here people who are poor, hurt, blind, or lame."
22 `The servant came back and said, "Sir, I have done what you told me to do. There is still room for more people."
23 Then the master said to the servant, "Go out onto the roads and behind bushes. Find people and make them come in so that my house will be full.
24 I tell you, not one of the men who were called first will eat any of my feast.'
26 Many people were going with Jesus. He turned to them and said, `If any man comes to me, he must hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sister. Yes, he must hate himself too. If he does not, he cannot be my disciple.
27 If anyone does not carry his cross [is not ready to die] and come with me, he cannot be my disciple.
28 `When any of you wants to build a high house, you sit down first and see how much it will cost. You want to see if you have enough money to finish it.
29 If you do not have enough money, you will not be able to finish it after you have made the foundation. Then all the people who see it will laugh at you.
30 They will say, "This man started to build a house and could not finish it."
31 `When a king goes to fight against another king, he sits down first and thinks about the matter. He will ask himself, "Can I fight him with ten thousand soldiers? He has twenty thousand soldiers."
32 If he cannot fight him, he will send some men to meet the other king while he is still far away. He will try to make peace with him.
33 `In the same way, any one of you who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple.'
34 `Salt is good. But if the salt has lost its taste, how can it be made salty again?
35 It is not good for the land or the dirt pile. People throw it away. `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!"
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