Category: Luke

[12:35] “Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit,

[12:36] like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once.

[12:37] How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them.

[12:38] How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later!

[12:39] And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house.

[12:40] And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.”

[12:41] Peter said, “Lord, does this parable apply to us, or do you mean it for everyone?”

[12:42] The Lord answered, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant? He is the one that his master will put in charge, to run the household and give the other servants their share of the food at the proper time.

[12:43] How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home!

[12:44] Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property.

[12:45] But if that servant says to himself that his master is taking a long time to come back and if he begins to beat the other servants, both the men and the women, and eats and drinks and gets drunk,

[12:46] then the master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the disobedient.

[12:47] “The servant who knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself ready and do it, will be punished with a heavy whipping.

[12:48] But the servant who does not know what his master wants, and yet does something for which he deserves a whipping, will be punished with a light whipping. Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given.

[12:49] “I came to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already kindled!

[12:50] I have a baptism to receive, and how distressed I am until it is over!

[12:51] Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the world? No, not peace, but division.

[12:52] From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.

[12:53] Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters, and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law.”

[12:54] Jesus said also to the people, “When you see a cloud coming up in the west, at once you say that it is going to rain—and it does.

[12:55] And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say that it is going to get hot—and it does.

[12:56] Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather; why, then, don't you know the meaning of this present time?

[12:57] “Why do you not judge for yourselves the right thing to do?

[12:58] If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, do your best to settle the dispute before you get to court. If you don't, you will be dragged before the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail.

[12:59] There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine.”

[13:1] At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God.

[13:2] Jesus answered them, “Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?

[13:3] No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.

[13:4] What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem?

[13:5] No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.”

[13:6] Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He went looking for figs on it but found none.

[13:7] So he said to his gardener, ‘Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?’

[13:8] But the gardener answered, ‘Leave it alone, sir, just one more year; I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer.

[13:9] Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.’”

[13:10] One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.

[13:11] A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

[13:12] When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!”

[13:13] He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

[13:14] The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”

[13:15] The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.

[13:16] Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?”

[13:17] His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

[13:18] Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with?

[13:19] It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches.”

[13:20] Again Jesus asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God with?

[13:21] It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”