New Testament in a Year
Sin and Forgiveness(A)
17 Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “·Things that cause people to sin [Stumbling blocks; Causes of sin; Temptations] ·will happen [are inevitable; L it is impossible for them not to come], but ·how terrible for [L woe to] the person who causes them to happen! 2 It would be better for ·you [L him; that person] to be thrown into the sea with a ·large [L mill] stone around ·your [L his] neck than to cause one of these little ones to ·sin [stumble]. 3 So ·be careful [watch yourselves]!
“If ·another follower [fellow believer; L your brother (or sister)] sins, ·warn [rebuke] him, and if he ·is sorry and stops sinning [repents], forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times ·in one day [or each day] and ·says that he is sorry each time [repents seven times], forgive him.”
How Big Is Your Faith?(B)
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord said, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘·Dig yourself up [Be uprooted] and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Be Good Servants
7 “Suppose one of you has a ·servant [slave] who has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When the servant comes in from working in the field, would you say, ‘Come in and ·sit down to eat [L recline; C the posture for a banquet or formal meal]’? 8 No, ·you [L he] would say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then ·get yourself ready [or put on your apron; L gird yourself] and ·serve [wait on] me. After I finish eating and drinking, you can eat and drink.’ 9 ·The servant does not get any special thanks [L Does he thank the servant…?] for doing what his master commanded. 10 It is the same with you. When you have done everything you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are ·unworthy [undeserving; worthless] servants; we have only done ·the work we should do [our duty; our obligation].’”
Be Thankful
11 [L Now it happened that] While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was going through the ·area between [middle of; borderlands of] Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he came into a ·small town [village], ten men ·who had a skin disease [T with leprosy; C the term does not refer to modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but to various skin disorders; see Lev. 14] met him there. They ·did not come close to Jesus [L stood at a distance] 13 but ·called [shouted; raised their voices] to him, “Jesus! Master! Have ·mercy [pity] on us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests [C only a priest could declare a person cleansed of such skin disorders; Lev. 14].”
As the ten men were going, they were ·healed [L cleansed; C skin disorders like this rendered the person afflicted ceremonially unclean]. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. 16 Then he ·bowed down [L fell on his face] at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan [C a shocking revelation, since Samaritans were despised by Jews].) 17 Jesus said, “Weren’t ten men ·healed [L cleansed; v. 14]? Where are the other nine? 18 Is this ·Samaritan [L foreigner] the only one who came back to ·thank [L give glory to] God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. ·You were healed because you believed [L Your faith has saved/healed you].”
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