Luke 6-7

Luke 6

¹One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

²But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

³Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”

⁵Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

⁷Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

⁸But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.

⁹Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

¹¹But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

¹²In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

¹³When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:

¹⁴Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

¹⁵Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;

¹⁶Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁸They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.

¹⁹The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

²⁰Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²²Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

²⁴But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

⁴²How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁴³No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

⁴⁶Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?

⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:

⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

⁴⁹But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

Luke 7

¹When Jesus had concluded His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

²There a highly valued servant of a centurion was sick and about to die.

³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant.

⁴They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly, “This man is worthy to have You grant this,

⁵for he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

⁶So Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends with the message: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.

⁷That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to You. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, He marveled at the centurion. Turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

¹⁰And when the messengers returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.

¹¹Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples went with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.

¹²As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”

¹⁴Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up!”

¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak! Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”

¹⁷And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding region.

¹⁸Then John’s disciples informed him about all these things.

¹⁹So John called two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’”

²¹At that very hour Jesus healed many people of their diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and He gave sight to many who were blind.

²²So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

²³Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

²⁴After John’s messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

²⁵Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear elegant clothing and live in luxury are found in palaces.

²⁶What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

²⁷This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.

³⁰But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

³¹“To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like?

³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁵But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

³⁶Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

³⁷When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.

³⁸As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”

⁴⁰But Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, Teacher,” he said.

⁴¹“Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”

⁴³“I suppose the one who was forgiven more,” Simon replied. “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You did not greet Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived.

⁴⁶You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume.

⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

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

⁴⁹But those at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰And Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”