New Testament Plan

¹It happened one Sabbath, when He went for a meal at the house of one of the ruling Pharisees, that they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him].

²And there in front of Him was a man who had dropsy (extreme swelling).

³And Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"

⁴But they kept silent. Then He took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way.

⁵Then He said to them, "Which one of you, having a son or an ox that falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"

⁶And they were unable to reply to this.

⁷Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

⁸"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down [to eat] at the place of honor, since a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by the host,

⁹and he who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your place,' and then, in disgrace you proceed to take the last place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you.

¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted."

¹²Jesus also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

¹³But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind,

¹⁴and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (the just, the upright)."

¹⁵When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

¹⁶But Jesus said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests;

¹⁷and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, because everything is ready now.'

¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have purchased a piece of land and I have to go out and see it; please consider me excused.'

¹⁹Another one said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.'

²⁰And another said, 'I have [recently] married a wife, and for that reason I am unable to come.'

²¹So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.'

²²And the servant [after returning] said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

²³Then the master told the servant, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests].

²⁴For I tell you, not one of those who were invited [and declined] will taste my dinner.'"

²⁵Now large crowds were going along with Jesus; 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 [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple.

²⁷Whoever does not carry his own cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.

²⁸For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower [for his guards], does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it?

²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is unable to finish [the building], all who see it will begin to ridicule him,

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

³¹Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one who is coming against him with twenty thousand?

³²Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace.

³³So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.

³⁴"Therefore, salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words."

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were coming near Jesus to listen to Him.

²Both the Pharisees and the scribes began muttering and complaining, saying, "This man accepts and welcomes sinners and eats with them."

³So He told them this parable:

⁴"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, [searching] until he finds it?

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

⁶And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!'

⁷I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

⁸"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins [each one equal to a day's wages] and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her [women] friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I found the lost coin!'

¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents [that is, changes his inner self—his old way of thinking, regrets past sins, lives his life in a way that proves repentance; and seeks God's purpose for his life]."

¹¹Then He said, "A certain man had two sons.

¹²The younger of them [inappropriately] said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.' So he divided the estate between them.

¹³A few days later, the younger son gathered together everything [that he had] and traveled to a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and immoral living.

¹⁴Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to do without and be in need.

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

¹⁶He would have gladly eaten the [carob] pods that the pigs were eating [but they could not satisfy his hunger], and no one was giving anything to him.

¹⁷But when he [finally] came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough food, while I am dying here of hunger!

¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] treat me like one of your hired men."'

²⁰So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

²¹And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

²²But the father said to his servants, 'Quickly bring out the best robe [for the guest of honor] and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet.

²³And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate;

²⁴for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.' So they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Now his older son was in the field; and when he returned and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶So he summoned one of the servants and began asking what this [celebration] 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 the elder brother became angry and deeply resentful and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

²⁹But he said to his father, 'Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never neglected or disobeyed your command. Yet you have never given me [so much as] a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

³⁰but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!'

³¹The father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

³²But it was fitting to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was [as good as] dead and has begun to live. He was lost and has been found.'"

¹Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master's] possessions.

²So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.'

³The manager [of the estate] said to himself, 'What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.

⁴I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master's debtors] will welcome me into their homes.'

⁵So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

⁶He said, 'A hundred measures of [olive] oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

⁷Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'

⁸And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].

⁹And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰"He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.

¹¹Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

¹²And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth] which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], who will give you that which is your own?

¹³No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God]."

¹⁴Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were sneering and ridiculing Him.

¹⁵So He said to them, "You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.

¹⁶"The Law and the [writings of the] Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it.

¹⁷Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.

¹⁸"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹"Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.

²⁰And a poor man named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, covered with sores.

²¹He [eagerly] longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

²²Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise).

²⁴And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in this flame.'

²⁵But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things [all the comforts and delights], and Lazarus likewise bad things [all the discomforts and distresses]; but now he is comforted here [in paradise], while you are in severe agony.

²⁶And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.'

²⁷So the rich man said, 'Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father's house—

²⁸for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.'

²⁹But Abraham said, 'They have [the Scriptures given by] Moses and the [writings of the] Prophets; let them listen to them.'

³⁰He replied, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent [they will change their old way of thinking and seek God and His righteousness].'

³¹And he said to him, 'If they do not listen to [the messages of] Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"