Luke 14
1 And it came to pass when He entered into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching Him.
One day--it was a Sabbath--He was taking a meal at the house of one of the Rulers of the Pharisee party, while they were closely watching Him.
2 And, behold, a certain dropsical man was before Him.
In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.
3 And Jesus responding spoke to the theologians and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day, or not? and they were silent.
This led Jesus to ask the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it allowable to cure people on the Sabbath?"
4 And taking him by the hand, He healed him, and sent him away.
They gave Him no answer; so He took hold of the man, cured him, and sent him away.
5 And responding to them He said; Of which one of you shall his son or his ox fall into a pit, and will he not immediately lift him out on the Sabbath-day?
Then He turned to them and said, "Which of you shall have a child or an ox fall into a well on the Sabbath day, and will not immediately lift him out?"
6 and they were not able to respond to these things.
To this they could make no reply.
7 And He spoke a parable to those whom He had called, warning them that they should not choose the first couches; saying to them,
Then, when He noticed that the invited guests chose the best seats, He used this as an illustration and said to them,
8 When you may be called by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down upon the first couch; lest one more worthy than thee may have been called by him,
"When any one invites you to a wedding banquet, do not take the best seat, lest perhaps some more honoured guest than you may have been asked,
9 and the one having called thee and him, having come in shall say to thee, Give place to him; and then thou shalt with shame begin to take the last place.
and the man who invited you both will come and will say to you, 'Make room for this guest,' and then you, ashamed, will move to the lowest place.
10 But when you may be invited, coming in sit down in the last place; in order that when the one having invited thee may come, he will say to thee, Friend, come up higher: then there will be glory to thee in the presence of all those sitting along with thee.
On the contrary, when you are invited go and take the lowest place, that when your host comes round he may say to you, 'My friend, come up higher.' This will be doing you honour in the presence of all the other guests.
11 Because every one who shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
For whoever uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted.
12 And He spoke to the one having also invited Him, When you may make a dinner or a supper, do not call your rich friends, nor your brothers, nor your kindred, nor your neighbors; lest they may also invite thee in turn, and there may be a recompense unto thee.
Also to His host, who had invited Him, He said, "When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbours, lest perhaps they should invite you in return and a requital be made you.
13 But when you may make a feast, invite the poor, maimed, lame, blind:
But when you entertain, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind;
14 and thou shalt be happy; because they have nothing with which to recompense thee: and it shall be recompensed unto thee in the resurrection of the just.
and you will be blessed, because they have no means of requiting you, but there will be requital for you at the Resurrection of the righteous."
15 And a certain one of those sitting together, hearing these things, said to Him, Happy is he whosoever eateth bread in the kingdom of God.
After listening to this teaching, one of His fellow guests said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall feast in God's Kingdom."
16 And He said to him, A certain man made a great supper, and invited many;
"A man once gave a great dinner," replied Jesus, "to which he invited a large number of guests.
17 and at the hour, of the supper he sent his servants to say to those who were invited, Come; because they are now ready.
At dinner-time he sent his servant to announce to those who had been invited, "'Come, for things are now ready.'
18 And they all of one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a farm, and I have need having gone to see it: I pray thee have me excused.
"But they all without exception began to excuse themselves. The first told him, "'I have purchased a piece of land, and must of necessity go and look at it. Pray hold me excused.'
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove the same: I intreat thee have me excused.
"A second pleaded, "'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am on my way to try them. Pray hold me excused.'
20 Another said, I have married a wife, and on this account I am not able to come.
"Another said, "'I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'
21 And the servant coming, announced these things to his lord. Then the land-lord being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and lead in hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame.
"So the servant came and brought these answers to his master, and they stirred his anger. "'Go out quickly,' he said, 'into the streets of the city--the wide ones and the narrow. You will see poor men, and crippled, blind, lame: fetch them all in here.'
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou didst command, and yet there is room.
"Soon the servant reported the result, saying, "'Sir, what you ordered is done, and there is room still.'
23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and hedges, and compel them to come in, in order that my house may be filled:
"'Go out,' replied the master, 'to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
24 for I say unto you, that no one of these men who have been invited shall taste of my supper.
For I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my dinner.'"
25 And many multitudes were journeying along with Him, and turning He said to them,
On His journey vast crowds attended Him, towards whom He turned and said,
26 If any one comes to me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and even yet his own soul, he is not able to be my disciple.
"If any one is coming to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.
27 Whosoever does not carry his cross, and come after me, is not able to be my disciple.
No one who does not carry his own cross and come after me can be a disciple of mine.
28 For which one of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sitting down count the cost; if he has unto sufficiency?
"Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sit down first and calculate the cost, asking if he has the means to finish it? --
29 Lest he having laid the foundation, and being unable to complete it, all who see it may begin to mock him,
lest perhaps, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him,
30 saying, that this man began to build, and was not able to complete it.
saying, 'This man began to build, but could not finish.'
31 Or what king, going forth to engage in war with another king, will not first sitting down counsel if he is able with ten thousand to meet him who is coming against him, with twenty thousand?
Or what king, marching to encounter another king in war, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the one who is advancing against him with twenty thousand?
32 But if not, while he is yet a great way off, sending an embassy, he asks for those things which appertain to peace.
If not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers and sues for peace.
33 Thus then every one of you who does not consecrate all his possessions, is not able to be my disciple.
Just as no one of you who does not detach himself from all that belongs to him can be a disciple of mine.
34 Therefore salt is good: but if the salt may lose its savor, with what shall it be salted?
"Salt is good: but if even the salt has become tasteless, what will you use to season it?
35 It is neither good for the land nor for excrement: they cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Neither for land nor dunghill is it of any use; they throw it away. Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"
