Day 28 of 90

^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.” ^15:1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. ^15:2The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.” ^15:3He told them this parable: ^15:4“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? ^15:5When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ^15:6When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ^15:7I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. ^15:8“Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? ^15:9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost!’ ^15:10Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” ^15:11He said, “A certain man had two sons. ^15:12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. ^15:13Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. ^15:14When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. ^15:15He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ^15:16He wanted to fill his belly with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. ^15:17But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! ^15:18I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ^15:19I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’ ^15:20“He arose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. ^15:21The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ^15:22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ^15:23Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate; ^15:24for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate. ^15:25“Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ^15:26He called one of the servants to him and asked what was going on. ^15:27He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ ^15:28But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and begged him. ^15:29But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ^15:30But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ ^15:31“He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ^15:32But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”