Chronological Plan

¹One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.

²And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.

³And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

⁴But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.

⁵And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

⁶And they could not reply to these things.

⁷Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,

⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,

⁹and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.

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

¹²He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.

¹³But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

¹⁴and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

¹⁵When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.

¹⁷And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

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

¹⁹And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’

²⁰And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

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

²²And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’

²³And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

²⁴For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

²⁵Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,

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

²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

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

³¹Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

³³ So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

³⁵It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.

²And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³So he told them this parable:

⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

⁵And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?

⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’

¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.

¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

¹⁶And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’

²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’

²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,

²⁹but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.

³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

³¹And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

³²It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”