Luke 6
English Standard Version
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
6 (A)On a Sabbath,[a] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples (B)plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, (C)“Why are you doing (D)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, (E)“Have you not read (F)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate (G)the bread of the Presence, (H)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, (I)“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
A Man with a Withered Hand
6 On another Sabbath, (J)he entered the synagogue (K)and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees (L)watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, (M)so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But (N)he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, (O)is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And (P)after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And (Q)he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with (R)fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Twelve Apostles
12 In these days (S)he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, (T)he called his disciples (U)and (V)chose from them twelve, whom he named (W)apostles: 14 Simon, (X)whom he named Peter, and (Y)Andrew his brother, and (Z)James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and (AA)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called (AB)the Zealot, 16 and (AC)Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude
17 And (AD)he came down with them and stood on a level place, with (AE)a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of (AF)Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. (AG)And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd (AH)sought to touch him, for (AI)power came out from him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 And (AJ)he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, (AK)and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for (AL)yours is the kingdom of God.
21 (AM)“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
(AN)“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when (AO)people hate you and when they (AP)exclude you and revile you and (AQ)spurn your name as evil, (AR)on account of the Son of Man! 23 (AS)Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for (AT)so their fathers did to the prophets.
Jesus Pronounces Woes
24 (AU)“But woe to you who are rich, (AV)for you (AW)have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for (AX)you shall be hungry.
“Woe to (AY)you who laugh now, (AZ)for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, (BA)when all people speak well of you, for (BB)so their fathers did to (BC)the false prophets.
Love Your Enemies
27 “But I say to you who hear, (BD)Love your enemies, (BE)do good to those who hate you, 28 (BF)bless those who curse you, (BG)pray for those who abuse you. 29 (BH)To one who (BI)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic[b] either. 30 (BJ)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And (BK)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 (BL)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And (BM)if you (BN)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But (BO)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and (BP)you will be sons of (BQ)the Most High, for (BR)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 (BS)Be merciful, even as (BT)your Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37 (BU)(BV)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; (BW)forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 (BX)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put (BY)into your lap. For (BZ)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
39 He also told them a parable: (CA)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 (CB)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is (CC)fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 (CD)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but (CE)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “For (CF)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for (CG)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 (CH)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces (CI)evil, (CJ)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Build Your House on the Rock
46 (CK)“Why (CL)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 (CM)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.[c] 49 (CN)But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and (CO)the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6
International Standard Version
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(A)
6 One time Jesus[a] was walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath.[b] His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what isn’t lawful on Sabbath days?”[c]
3 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions became hungry? 4 How was it that he went into the house of God, took the Bread of the Presence and ate it, which was not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and then gave some of it to his companions?”
5 Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand(B)
6 Once, on another Sabbath, Jesus[d] went into a synagogue and began teaching. A man whose right hand was paralyzed was there. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus[e] closely to see[f] whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to find a way of accusing him of doing something wrong. 8 But Jesus[g] knew what they were thinking. So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Get up, and stand in the middle of the synagogue.”[h] So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus asked them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at all of them and then told the man,[i] “Hold out your hand.” The man[j] did so, and his hand was restored to health. 11 The others were furious[k] and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles(C)
12 Now it was in those days that Jesus[l] went to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 When daylight came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), 16 Judas (the son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).
Jesus Ministers to Many People(D)
17 Then Jesus[m] came down with them and stood on a level place, along with many of his disciples and a large gathering of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those who were being tormented by unclean spirits were being healed. 19 The entire crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing all of them.
Jesus Pronounces Blessings and Judgment(E)
20 Then Jesus[n] looked at his disciples and said,
“How blessed are you who are destitute,
because the kingdom of God is yours!
21 How blessed are you who are hungry now,
because you will be satisfied!
How blessed are you who are crying now,
because you will laugh!
22 “How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.
24 “But how terrible it will be for you who are rich,
because you have had your comfort!
25 How terrible it will be for you who are full now,
because you will be hungry!
How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now,
because you will mourn and cry!
26 “How terrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you, because that’s the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets!”
Teaching about Love for Enemies(F)
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who insult you. 29 If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one as well, and if someone takes your coat, don’t keep back your shirt, either. 30 Keep on giving to everyone who asks you for something, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not insist on getting it back. 31 Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what thanks do you deserve? Why, even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do that. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to get something back, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back what they lend. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Judging Others(G)
37 “Stop judging, and you’ll never be judged. Stop condemning, and you’ll never be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your lap, because you’ll be evaluated by the same standard with which you evaluate others.”
39 He also told them a parable: “One blind person can’t lead another blind person, can he? Both will fall into a ditch, won’t they? 40 A disciple is not better than his teacher. But everyone who is fully-trained will be like his teacher.
41 “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
A Tree is Known by Its Fruit(H)
43 “A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit, 44 because every tree is known by its own fruit. People[o] don’t gather figs from thorny plants or pick grapes from a thorn bush. 45 A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
The Two Foundations(I)
46 “Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but don’t do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what everyone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 They are like a person building a house, who dug a deep hole to lay the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it had been founded on the rock.[p] 49 But the person who hears what I say[q] but doesn’t act on it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. When the floodwaters pushed against it, that house[r] quickly collapsed, and the resulting destruction of that house was extensive.”
Footnotes
- Luke 6:1 Lit. he
- Luke 6:1 Other mss. read on the second Sabbath after the first
- Luke 6:2 Lit. on the Sabbaths
- Luke 6:6 Lit. he
- Luke 6:7 Lit. him
- Luke 6:7 The Gk. lacks to see
- Luke 6:8 Lit. he
- Luke 6:8 The Gk. lacks of the synagogue
- Luke 6:10 Lit. him
- Luke 6:10 Lit. He
- Luke 6:11 Or were stupefied
- Luke 6:12 Lit. he
- Luke 6:17 Lit. he
- Luke 6:20 Lit. he
- Luke 6:44 Lit. They
- Luke 6:48 Other mss. read had been built well
- Luke 6:49 The Gk. lacks what I say
- Luke 6:49 Lit. it
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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