Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Luke 14
Healing at a Sabbath Meal
On a Sabbath Jesus went to eat at the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees, and they were watching him closely. Look—a man suffering from severe swelling was in front of him. Jesus asked the experts in the Law and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “Which of you, if a son or an ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath?” They could not answer these things.
Choosing the Lower Place
When Jesus noticed how the invited guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor. Someone more distinguished than you may have been invited. The host who invited both of you may come and say, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then in shame you will begin taking the lowest place. Instead, when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place. Then when your host comes, he may say, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone reclining with you. For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.”
Invite Those Who Cannot Repay
Jesus also said to the man who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors, or they may invite you in return and you will be repaid. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, disabled, lame, and blind. You will be blessed because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Great Banquet
When one of those reclining at the table heard these things, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in God’s kingdom!” Jesus said, “A man was giving a great banquet and invited many people. At the hour of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began making excuses. The first told him, ‘I bought a field and must go see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I bought five yoke of oxen and am going to examine them. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant returned and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in the poor, disabled, blind, and lame.’ The servant said, ‘Lord, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ The master told the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and hedges and strongly urge people to come in so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”
Count the Cost
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even their own life, they cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see whether you have enough to finish it? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and being unable to finish, everyone who sees it will begin mocking, saying, ‘This person began to build and could not finish.’ Or what king going to meet another king in war will not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand soldiers he can meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other king is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, every one of you who does not renounce all your possessions cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, how will it be seasoned? It is useful neither for the soil nor the manure pile; people throw it out. Let anyone with ears to hear listen.”