Luke 14
1 One (Jewish day of rest/Sabbath day), Jesus went to eat [SYN] at the house of an important Pharisee. Some [men who studied the Jewish] laws and other Pharisees who were there were watching him carefully [to see if he would do something for which they could accuse him].
And it came to pass, when he went into the house of a certain man of the chiefs of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him.
2 Unexpectedly, there was a man in front of Jesus whose arms and legs were swollen.
And behold, there was a certain man in front of him afflicted with edema.
3 Jesus said to them, “Is it permitted in [our(inc)] Jewish laws to heal [someone] (on our Jewish rest day/on the Sabbath), or not?”
And having responded, Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it permitted to heal on the sabbath?
4 [They knew that their laws permitted it, but they thought that healing was work, which they thought was wrong to do] (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day) (OR, [they knew that their laws permitted it, but they did not want to admit it]). So they did not reply. Then Jesus put his hands on the man and healed him. Then he told him to go [home].
But they were silent. And having taken him, he healed him and released him.
5 Then he said to the rest of them, “If you had a son or an ox that fell into a well on a (Sabbath/our day of rest), would you immediately [work to] pull him out, [or would you(sg) let him stay there until the next day]?”
And having responded, he said to them, Of which of you will a son or an ox fall into a pit, and he will not straightaway lift him out on the day of the sabbath?
6 [They knew that they would immediately work to pull him out, even on their day of rest, so they could not justly say that Jesus did wrong by healing the man on that day. So] they said nothing in reply to Jesus.
And they could not answer him back to these things.
7 Jesus noticed that those people who had been {whom [the Pharisee] had} invited [to the meal] chose [to sit in] the places where important [people usually sit]. Then he gave [this advice] to them:
And he spoke a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they chose out the chief places, saying to them,
8 “When one of you [(sg)] is invited by someone {someone invites one of you [(sg)]} to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place where important people sit. Perhaps the man [giving the feast] has invited a man more important than you [(sg)].
When thou are invited by any man to wedding festivities, do not sit down in the chief place, lest there may be a more honorable man than thou who was invited by him.
9 [When that man comes], the man who invited both of you will come to you [(sg)] and say to you, ‘Let this man take your seat!’ Then you [(sg)] will have to take the most undesirable seat, and you will be ashamed.
And he who invited thee and him, having come, will say to thee, Give place to this man, and then thou will begin with embarrassment to take the last place.
10 Instead, when you are invited {[someone] invites one of you} [to a feast], go and sit in the most undesirable seat. Then when the man who invited everyone comes, he will say to you [(sg)], ‘Friend, sit in a better seat!’ Then all the people who are eating with you [(sg)] will see that he is honoring you.
But when thou are invited, having gone, sit down in the last place, so that when he who has invited thee comes, he will say to thee, Friend, go up higher, then it will be esteem to thee in the presence of those dining with thee.
11 Also, [remember this]: [God] will humble those who exalt themselves. And [he] will exalt those who humble themselves.”
Because every man who lifts himself up will be made lower, and he who makes himself lower will be lifted up.
12 [Jesus] also said to [the Pharisee] who had invited him to the meal, “When you [(sg)] invite people to a midday or evening meal, do not invite your friends or your family or your other relatives or your rich neighbors. They can later invite you [(sg) for a meal]. In that way they will repay you.
And he also said to the man who invited him, When thou make a dinner or a supper, do not call thy friends, nor thy brothers, nor thy kinsmen, nor prosperous neighbors, lest they also invite thee in return, and a recompense be made to thee.
13 Instead, when you [(sg)] give a feast, invite poor [people], crippled [people], lame [people], or blind [people].
But when thou make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
14 They will be unable to repay you. [But God will bless you! He] will repay you [at the time] when [he causes] righteous people to become alive again.”
and thou will be blessed, because they do not have to recompense thee, for it will be recompensed to thee at the resurrection of the righteous.
15 One of those who were eating with Jesus heard him say that. He said to Jesus, “God [has truly] blessed [us Jews] who will eat [with the Messiah] when he starts to rule!”
And a certain man of those dining together having heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he who will eat dinner in the kingdom of God.
16 But [to show that many Jews whom God had invited would not accept God’s invitation] [MET], Jesus replied to him, “One time a man [decided] to prepare a large feast. He invited many people to come.
And he said to him, A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many.
17 When it was the day for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those who had been {whom he had} invited, ‘Come [now] because everything is ready!’
And he sent forth his bondman at the hour of the meal to say to those who were invited, Come, because all things are now ready.
18 But [when the servant did that], all of the people [whom he had invited] began to say why they did not want to come. The first [man the servant went to] said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please [ask your master to] forgive me for not coming!’
And they all from one began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a field, and I have need to go out and see it. I ask thee have me excused.
19 Another person said, ‘I have just bought five pair of oxen, and I must go to examine them. Please [ask your master to] forgive me for not coming!’
And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to test them. I ask thee have me excused.
20 Another person said, ‘I have just been married. So I cannot come.’
And another said, I married a wife, and because of this I cannot come.
21 So the servant returned to his master and reported what [everyone had said]. The owner of the house was angry [when he heard the reasons they gave for not] coming. He said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city [and find] poor and crippled and blind and lame [people, and bring] them here into [my house]!’
And that bondman, having come, he informed his lord these things. Then the house-ruler having become angry, he said to his bondman, Go out quickly into the thoroughfares and lanes of the city, and bring here the poor and maimed and crippled and blind.
22 [After the servant went and did that], he [came back and] said, ‘Sir, I have done what you [(sg)] told me to do, but there is still room [for more people].’
And the bondman said, Lord, as thou commanded it has happened, and yet there is room.
23 [So] his master said to him, ‘Then go [outside the city]. Search for people along the highways. Search also along the narrow roads with hedges beside them [where homeless people may be staying]. Strongly urge the people in those places to come to [my house]. I want it to be full of [people]!’”
And the lord said to the bondman, Go out into the roads and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 [Then Jesus said], “I tell you [(pl)] this: Very few of you [Jewish] people will enjoy my feast, even though [I] invited you [first to eat it with me when I become king].”
For I say to you, that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper. For many are called, but few chosen.
25 Large groups of people were traveling with [Jesus]. He turned and said to them,
Now many multitudes went with him, and having turned, he said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to me who loves his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters [more than] [HYP] [he loves me], he cannot be my disciple. He must even love me more than he loves his own life!
If any man comes to me, and does not regard as inferior his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and besides his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 [People who are ready to execute a prisoner make] him carry his cross [MET] [to the place where others will nail him] on it. Only those who are willing [to allow others to hurt them and disgrace them] like that because of being my disciples, and who are willing to obey what I teach, can be my disciples.
And whoever does not bear his cross, and come behind me, cannot be my disciple.
28 [I will illustrate] [MET]. If one of you desired to build a (tower/big house), (you would surely first sit down and determine how much it would cost!/would you not first sit down and determine how much it would cost?) [RHQ] Then you would determine whether you had enough money to complete it.
For which of you wanting to build a tower, does not, having first sat down, count the cost whether he has the things for completion?
29 [If you did not do that], if you laid the foundation and were not able to finish [the rest of the tower], everyone who saw it would make fun of you.
So that perhaps, having laid its foundation, and not being able to finish, all those who see begin to ridicule him,
30 They would say, ‘This man started to build [a tower], but he was not able to finish it!’
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or, if a king decided to [send his army to] war against another king, (he would surely first sit down [with those who] advised [him]./would he not first sit down [with those who] advised [him]?) [RHQ] They would determine whether [his army], which had only 10,000 soldiers, could defeat the [other army], which had 20,000 soldiers, and was about to attack his [army].
Or what king going to encounter another king in war, will not, having first sat down, consult whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 If he [decided] that his army could not [defeat that army], he would send messengers to [the other king] while the other army was still far away. He would tell the messengers to say to that king, ‘What things must I do to have peace with your country?’
And if not, while he is still far off, having sent a delegation, he asks the things about peace.
33 So, similarly, if any one of you does not first decide that you [(sg)] are [willing to] give up all that you have, you cannot be my disciple.”
So therefore every man of you who does not renounce all things being possessed by him, cannot be my disciple.
34 [Jesus also said, “You are like] [MET] salt, which is useful [to put on food]. But (salt certainly cannot be made {[you] certainly cannot make salt} to taste salty again if it stops tasting salty!/can salt be made {can [you] make salt} to taste salty again if it quits tasting salty?) [RHQ]
The salt material is good, but if the salt material becomes tasteless, by what will it be seasoned?
35 [If salt does not taste salty any more], it is not good for the soil or even for the manure heap. [People] throw it away. [The same thing will happen to you if you become useless to God]. If you want to understand what I just said [IDM], you must consider [carefully] what you have heard!”
It is fit neither for the land nor for manure; they cast it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
