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 had come into the house of one of the chief men of the Pharisees on the 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 lo! there was a certain man before him, who had the dropsy.
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 Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath, or not?
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 taking hold of him, he cured him, and sent him away.
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 he answered them and said, Who is there of you, who, if his son or his ox fall into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the sabbath-day?
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 make no answer to this.
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 observed how they chose out the highest places at the table, 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 art invited by any one to a wedding, do not take the highest place, lest one more honorable than thou may have been 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 come and say to thee, Give place to this man; and then thou wilt begin with shame to take the lowest 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 art invited, go and recline in the lowest place, that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher. Then wilt thou have honor in the presence of all who are at table with thee.
11 Also, [remember this]: [God] will humble those who exalt themselves. And [he] will exalt those who humble themselves.”
For every one that exalteth himself will be humbled; and he that humbleth himself will be exalted.
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 said also to him who invited him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, do not invite thy friends, nor thy brothers, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest they too invite thee in return, and a recompense be made thee.
13 Instead, when you [(sg)] give a feast, invite poor [people], crippled [people], lame [people], or blind [people].
But when thou makest 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 shalt be blessed, because they cannot recompense thee; but thou shalt be recompensed 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 one of those who were at table with him, hearing this, said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread 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 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 at the hour of supper he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, Come, for 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 all with one accord began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of land, and must needs go out and see it; I pray that I may be 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 have bought five yoke of oxen, and am going out to try them; I pray that I may be excused.
20 Another person said, ‘I have just been married. So I cannot come.’
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore 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 the servant came, and reported these things to his lord. 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, the blind, and the lame.
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 servant said, Lord, what thou didst command hath been done, 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 servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain 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 shall taste of my supper.
25 Large groups of people were traveling with [Jesus]. He turned and said to them,
And great multitudes were going with him; and he turned and 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 one cometh to me, and hateth not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yea, and 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.
Whoever doth not bear his own cross and follow 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, intending to build a tower, doth not sit down first and count the cost, whether he hath the means to finish it?
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.
lest haply when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to make sport of 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, setting out to give battle to another king, will not first sit down and consider whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh 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?’
Else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassy, and asketh conditions of 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 likewise, whoever of you doth not forsake all that he hath, 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]
Salt then is good; but if the salt itself have lost its savor, wherewith shall 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 the dunghill; men cast it out. He that hath ears, let him hear.
