Jesus heals a man with dropsy

1Then it happened, when He entered the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they were watching Him closely.

2And then, there in front of Him was a man who had dropsy! ³³⁸

3And Jesus reacted by saying to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

4But they kept silent. So He took hold of him, healed him, and let him go.

5Then He addressed them saying, “Which of you, if a son ³³⁹or an ox falls into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

6And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

A lesson about humility

7Then He told a parable to those who were invited, having observed how they kept trying for the best places, saying to them:

8“Whenever you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not recline in the place of honor, in case someone more honorable than you has been invited by him;

9then he who invited you both will come and say, ‘You, give this man place!’ and then, with shame, you start to take the lowest place. ³⁴⁰

10Rather, whenever you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will have honor in the presence of your fellow guests.

11Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” ³⁴¹

12Then He said directly to His host: “Whenever you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.

13But whenever you make a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you—you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” ³⁴²

An unusual banquet

15Well when one of the fellow-recliners heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who will eat dinner ³⁴³in the Kingdom of God!” ³⁴⁴

16So He said to him: “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many.

17And at meal time he sent his slave to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a field, and I need to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’

19Another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’

20Yet another said, ‘I have married a wife, and so I cannot come.’

21So that slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’

22And the slave said, ‘Master, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

23Then the master said to the slave: ‘Go out to the roads and hedges ³⁴⁵and make people come in, so that my house may be filled.

24For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet!’ ” ³⁴⁶

Jesus defines discipleship

25Now large crowds were traveling with Him, and turning He said to them:

26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

27And whoever does not carry his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28“Further, which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and calculate the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

29This so he does not lay a foundation without being able to finish, and all who see it begin to ridicule him,

30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’

31“Or what king, going to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32And if not, while the other is still far away he sends a delegation and asks for terms for peace.

33“So likewise, any of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. ³⁴⁷

34Salt is good; but should the salt become insipid, with what can it be seasoned?

35It is fit for neither soil nor fertilizer; it is thrown out. ³⁴⁸He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”