Luke 17-18

New American Standard Bible

Instructions

17 Now He said to His disciples, “^(A)It is inevitable that ^[a]stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come! ^2 (B)It is better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[b]is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to ^[c]sin. ^3 [d]Be on your guard! ^(C)If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you ^(D)seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

^5 (E)The apostles said to ^(F)the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ But ^(G)the Lord said, “If you ^[e]had faith ^[f]the size of ^(H)a mustard seed, you could say to this ^(I)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would ^[g]obey you.

⁷ “Now which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and recline at the table to eat’? ⁸ On the contrary, will he not say to him, ‘^(J)Prepare something for me to eat, and properly ^[h]clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and ^[i]afterward you ^[j]may eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are ^[k]unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Ten Men with Leprosy Healed

¹¹ While He was ^(K)on the way to Jerusalem, ^(L)He was passing ^[l]between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who ^(M)stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, ^(N)Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “^(O)Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, ^(P)glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a ^(Q)Samaritan. ¹⁷ But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ^18 [m]Was no one found who returned to ^(R)give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; ^(S)your faith has ^[n]made you well.”

Second Coming Foretold

²⁰ Now He was questioned by the Pharisees ^(T)as to when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with ^[o](U)signs that can be observed; ²¹ nor will ^(V)they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is ^[p]in your midst.”

²² And He said to the disciples, “^(W)The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (X)And they will say to you, ‘Look there,’ or, ‘Look here!’ Do not leave, and do not run after them. ^24 (Y)For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part ^[q]of the sky, shines to the other part ^[r]of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ^25 (Z)But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ^26 (AA)And just as it happened ^(AB)in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ^28 [s]It was the same as happened in ^(AC)the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and ^[t]brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be ^[u]just the same on the day that the Son of Man ^(AD)is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the one who will be ^(AE)on the ^[v]housetop, ^[w]with his goods in the house, must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back. ^32 (AF)Remember Lot’s wife. ^33 (AG)Whoever strives to ^[x]save his ^[y]life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ^35 (AH)There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶ [^[z](AI)Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] ³⁷ And responding, they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “^(AJ)Where the body is, there also the ^[aa]vultures will be gathered.”

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(AK)ought to pray and not ^(AL)become discouraged, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^(AM)respect any person. ³ Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my ^[ab]opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^(AN)respect any person, ⁵ yet ^(AO)because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise ^[ac]by continually coming she will ^(AP)wear me out.’” ⁶ And ^(AQ)the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; ⁷ now, will God not ^(AR)bring about justice for His ^(AS)elect who cry out to Him day ^[ad]and night, and will He ^(AT)delay long for them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(AU)will He find ^[ae]faith on the earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ Now He also told this parable to some people who ^(AV)trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and ^(AW)viewed others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men ^(AX)went up into the ^[af]temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee ^(AY)stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I ^(AZ)fast twice a week; I ^(BA)pay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, ^(BB)standing some distance away, ^(BC)was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but ^(BD)was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be ^[ag]merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; ^(BE)for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

^15 (BF)Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called for ^[ah]the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not ^[ai]forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, ^(BG)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

The Rich Young Ruler

^18 (BH)A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me ^[aj]good? No one is ^[ak]good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments, ‘^(BI)Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.” ²² Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; ^(BJ)sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have ^(BK)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²³ But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. ²⁴ And Jesus looked at him and said, “^(BL)How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For ^(BM)it is easier for a camel to ^[al]go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁶ Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?” ²⁷ But He said, “^(BN)The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Behold, ^(BO)we have left ^[am]our own homes and followed You.” ²⁹ And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(BP)there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive many times as much at this time, and in ^(BQ)the age to come, eternal life.”

^31 (BR)Now He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, ^(BS)we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(BT)all the things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ^32 (BU)For He will be ^[an]handed over to the Gentiles, and will be ridiculed, and abused, and spit upon, ³³ and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” ^34 [ao](BV)The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Bartimaeus Receives Sight

^35 (BW)Now as ^[ap](BX)Jesus was approaching Jericho, a man who was blind was sitting by the road, begging. ³⁶ But when he heard a crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was. ³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. ³⁸ And he called out, saying, “Jesus, ^(BY)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “^(BZ)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; ^(CA)your faith has ^[aq]made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, ^(CB)glorifying God; and when ^(CC)all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.