Luke 14
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
At The House of a Pharisee, Jesus Heals a Man With Dropsy On The Sabbath
14 And it came about at His going into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, that they were closely-watching Him. 2 And behold— a certain man in front of Him was suffering-from-dropsy. 3 And having responded, Jesus spoke to the Law-experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But the ones were quiet. And having taken-hold-of him, He healed him, and sent him away. 5 And He said to them, “Whose son or ox of yours will fall into a well, and he will not immediately pull him up on the day of the Sabbath?” 6 And they were not able to answer-back to these things.
Jesus Says To The Ones Invited, Humble Yourself. Wait On The One Who Invited You
7 And He was speaking a parable[a] to the ones having been invited, fixing-His-attention-on[b] how they were choosing the places-of-honor, saying to them— 8 “Whenever you are invited by someone to wedding-celebrations, do not lie down [to eat] in the place-of-honor lest a more distinguished one than you may have been invited by him, 9 and having come, the one having invited you and him will say to you, ‘Give your place to this one’, and then you will begin to hold the last place with shame. 10 But whenever you are invited, having gone, fall back [to eat] in the last place, so that when the one having invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’. Then there will be glory for you in the presence of all the ones reclining back with you [to eat]. 11 Because everyone exalting himself will be humbled. And the one humbling himself will be exalted”.
Jesus Says To The One Who Invited Him, Serve Those Who Cannot Repay
12 And He was also saying to the one having invited Him, “Whenever you make a morning-meal[c] or a dinner, do not be calling your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors— that they also might not perhaps invite you in return, and it become a repayment[d] to you. 13 But whenever you make a reception, be inviting poor ones, crippled ones, lame ones, blind ones, 14 and you will be blessed because they do not have the means to repay you. For it will be repaid to you at the resurrection of the righteous”.
When The Invited Are Not Willing To Come, The Uninvited Will Be Welcomed
15 And one of the ones reclining back with Him [to eat], having heard these things, said to Him, “Blessed is whoever will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But the One said to him— “A certain man was making a great dinner, and he invited many. 17 And he sent-out his slave at the hour of the dinner to say to the ones having been invited, ‘Come, because it is already prepared’. 18 And they all alike began to excuse-themselves. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field. And I have a necessity, having gone out, to see it. I ask you, have me excused’. 19 And another said, ‘I bought five pair[e] of oxen, and I am proceeding to test them. I ask you, have me excused’. 20 And another said, ‘I married a woman, and for this reason I am not able to come’. 21 And having come, the slave reported these things to his master. Then, having become-angry[f], the house-master said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the wide-roads[g] and lanes[h] of the city, and bring in here the poor ones and crippled ones and blind ones and lame ones’. 22 And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room’. 23 And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out to the roads[i] and fences, and compel[j] them to come in, in order that my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you[k] all that none of those men having been invited will taste my dinner’”.
Carry Your Own Cross And Follow Me. Calculate The Cost First
25 And large crowds were proceeding-with Him. And having turned, He 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, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever is not carrying his own cross[l] and coming after Me, cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you wanting to build a tower does not first, having sat-down, calculate the cost to see whether he has enough for the completion?— 29 in order that he having laid a foundation and not being able to finish it out, all the ones observing may not perhaps begin to mock him, 30 saying that ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish it out!’ 31 Or what king going to engage another king in battle will not, having sat-down first, deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet[m] the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Otherwise indeed, the one coming still being far away— the king, having sent-forth a delegation, asks the things for peace. 33 So therefore, any of you who is not saying-goodbye[n] to all his possessions cannot be My disciple. 34 Therefore, salt is good. But if indeed the salt should become-tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for soil nor for the manure-pile. They throw it outside. Let the one having ears to hear, hear”.
Footnotes
- Luke 14:7 Note that what follows is a parable aimed at the Pharisees, not a lesson on manners.
- Luke 14:7 Or more mildly, ‘noting’.
- Luke 14:12 Or, luncheon.
- Luke 14:12 In such a case, you have your reward in full.
- Luke 14:19 Or, yoke, team.
- Luke 14:21 Or, become-wrathful.
- Luke 14:21 Or, main streets, broad ways.
- Luke 14:21 Or, narrow streets, alleys.
- Luke 14:23 Or, paths.
- Luke 14:23 Persuade them it is a serious offer.
- Luke 14:24 This word is plural.
- Luke 14:27 That is, the instrument of his own death, symbolizing his death to self and this world.
- Luke 14:31 That is, successfully engage.
- Luke 14:33 Or, bidding-farewell. The disciple’s habit of life must be one of separating himself or herself from possessions to take hold of real life (1 Tim 6:19).
Luke 14
Easy-to-Read Version
Is It Right to Heal on the Sabbath Day?
14 On a Sabbath day, Jesus went to the home of a leading Pharisee to eat with him. The people there were all watching him very closely. 2 A man with a bad disease[a] was there in front of him. 3 Jesus said to the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it right or wrong to heal on the Sabbath day?” 4 But they would not answer his question. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent the man away. 5 Jesus said to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, “If your son or work animal falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you know you would pull him out immediately.” 6 The Pharisees and teachers of the law could say nothing against what he said.
Don’t Make Yourself Important
7 Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So he told this story: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t sit in the most important seat. They may have invited someone more important than you. 9 And if you are sitting in the most important seat, they will come to you and say, ‘Give this man your seat!’ Then you will have to move down to the last place and be embarrassed.
10 “So when someone invites you, go sit in the seat that is not important. Then they will come to you and say, ‘Friend, move up here to this better place!’ What an honor this will be for you in front of all the other guests. 11 Everyone who makes themselves important will be made humble. But everyone who makes themselves humble will be made important.”
You Will Be Rewarded
12 Then Jesus said to the Pharisee who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite only your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. At another time they will pay you back by inviting you to eat with them. 13 Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind. 14 Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when all godly people rise from death.”
A Story About People Invited to a Dinner(A)
15 One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to him, “It will be a great blessing for anyone to eat a meal in God’s kingdom!”
16 Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people. 17 When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. The food is ready.’ 18 But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another man said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 A third man said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’
21 “So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, ‘Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22 “Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’ 23 The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full! 24 I tell you, not one of those people I invited first will eat any of this food I prepared.’”
Decide if You Can Follow Me(B)
25 Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them, 26 “If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life! 27 Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them when they follow me cannot be my follower.
28 “If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job. 29 If you don’t do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.’
31 “If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If he has only 10,000 men, he will try to decide if he is able to defeat the other king who has 20,000 men. 32 If he thinks he cannot defeat the other king, he will send some men to ask for peace while that king’s army is still far away.
33 “It is the same for each of you. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower.
Don’t Lose Your Influence(C)
34 “Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can’t make it salty again. 35 It is worth nothing. You can’t even use it as dirt or dung. People just throw it away.
“You people who hear me, listen!”
Footnotes
- Luke 14:2 disease The man had dropsy, a sickness that causes the body to swell larger and larger.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International