Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Luke 6
Lord of the Sabbath
On a Sabbath Jesus was passing through grainfields, and his disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry?
He entered God’s house, took the bread of the Presence, ate it, and gave some to those with him—bread that is not lawful for anyone except the priests to eat.”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so they could find a reason to accuse him.
But he knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle.” The man got up and stood there.
Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
He looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored.
But they were filled with senseless rage and began discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.
In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:
Simon, whom he also named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus; Simon called the Zealot;
Judas son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there, along with a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by unclean spirits were also being healed.
The whole crowd was trying to touch him because power was going out from him and healing everyone.
Jesus looked at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
because yours is God’s kingdom.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
because you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
because you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
exclude you, insult you,
and reject your name as evil
because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice on that day and leap for joy! Look—your reward is great in heaven, because their ancestors treated the prophets the same way.
“But woe to you who are rich,
because you have received your comfort.
Woe to you who are full now,
because you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
because you will mourn and weep.
Woe when all people speak well of you,
because their ancestors treated the false prophets the same way.
“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you.
To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. From the one who takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Just as you want people to do to you, do the same to them.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners so they may receive the same amount back.
Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and evil.
Become merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will they not both fall into a pit?
A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but do not notice the beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck in your brother’s eye.
“No good tree produces bad fruit, and no bad tree produces good fruit.
Each tree is known by its own fruit. People do not gather figs from thornbushes or harvest grapes from brambles.
A good person brings good out of the good treasure of the heart, and an evil person brings evil out of evil treasure. For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?
Everyone who comes to me, hears my words, and does them—I will show you what that person is like.
That person is like someone building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the river crashed against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who hears and does not act is like someone who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”