Day 299 of 364

^13:1Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ^13:2Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? ^13:3I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. ^13:4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? ^13:5I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” ^13:6He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ^13:7He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’ ^13:8He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ^13:9If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’” ^13:10He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. ^13:11Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over and could in no way straighten herself up. ^13:12When Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” ^13:13He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God. ^13:14The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” ^13:15Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water? ^13:16Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” ^13:17As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. ^13:18He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? ^13:19It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.” ^13:20Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? ^13:21It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” ^13:22He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. ^13:23One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, ^13:24“Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. ^13:25When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ^13:26Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ^13:27He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ ^13:28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. ^13:29They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. ^13:30Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” ^13:31On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.” ^13:32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. ^13:33Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’ ^13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused! ^13:35Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ^14:1When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. ^14:2Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. ^14:3Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ^14:4But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. ^14:5He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” ^14:6They couldn’t answer him regarding these things. ^14:7He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, ^14:8“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ^14:9and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ^14:10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ^14:11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” ^14:12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. ^14:13But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; ^14:14and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.” ^14:15When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” ^14:16But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. ^14:17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ ^14:18They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ ^14:19“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’ ^14:20“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ ^14:21“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ ^14:22“The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ ^14:23“The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ^14:24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few are chosen.’” ^14:25Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, ^14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. ^14:27Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross and come after me, can’t be my disciple. ^14:28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? ^14:29Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, ^14:30saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ ^14:31Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ^14:32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks for conditions of peace. ^14:33So therefore, whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. ^14:34“Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? ^14:35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”