Luke 17-18

Contemporary English Version

Faith and Service

(Matthew 18.6,7,21,22; Mark 9.42)

17 Jesus said to his disciples:

There will always be something that causes people to sin. But anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble. A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin ²would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck. ³^(A) So be careful what you do.

Correct any followers^[a] of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry. ⁴Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, “I am sorry,” you should still forgive that person.

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith stronger!”

⁶Jesus replied:

If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all, and to plant itself in the ocean. And it would!

⁷If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep, would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”? ⁸No, you wouldn't say that. You would say, “Prepare me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.” ⁹Servants don't deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do. ¹⁰And that's how it should be with you. When you've done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”

Ten Men with Leprosy

¹¹On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus went along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy^[b] came toward him. They stood at a distance ¹³and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴^(B) Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”^[c]

On their way they were healed. ¹⁵When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. ¹⁶He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria.

¹⁷Jesus asked, “Weren't ten men healed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?” ¹⁹Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”

God's Kingdom

(Matthew 24.23-28,37-41)

²⁰Some Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come. He answered, “God's kingdom isn't something you can see. ²¹There is no use saying, ‘Look! Here it is’ or ‘Look! There it is.’ God's kingdom is here with you.”^[d]

²²Jesus said to his disciples:

The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not. ²³When people say to you, “Look there,” or “Look here,” don't go looking for him. ²⁴The day of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing across the sky. ²⁵But first he must suffer terribly and be rejected by the people of today. ²⁶^(C) When the Son of Man comes, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. ²⁷^(D) People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day when Noah went into the big boat. Then the flood came and drowned everyone on earth.

²⁸^(E) When Lot^[e] lived, people were also eating and drinking. They were buying, selling, planting, and building. ²⁹But on the very day Lot left Sodom, fiery flames poured down from the sky and killed everyone. ³⁰The same will happen on the day when the Son of Man appears.

³¹^(F) At that time no one on a rooftop^[f] should go down into the house to get anything. No one in a field should go back to the house for anything. ³²^(G) Remember what happened to Lot's wife.^[g]

³³^(H) People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them. ³⁴On that night two people will be sleeping in the same bed, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ^35-36Two women will be together grinding wheat, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.^[h]

³⁷Then Jesus' disciples spoke up, “But where will this happen, Lord?”

Jesus said, “Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.”^[i]

A Widow and a Judge

18 Jesus told his disciples a story about how they should keep on praying and never give up:

²In a town there was once a judge who didn't fear God or care about people. ³In that same town there was a widow who kept going to the judge and saying, “Make sure that I get fair treatment in court.”

⁴For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he said to himself, “Even though I don't fear God or care about people, ⁵I will help this widow because she keeps on bothering me. If I don't help her, she will wear me out.”

⁶The Lord said:

Think about what that crooked judge said. ⁷^(I) Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won't he be concerned for them? ⁸He will surely hurry and help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?

A Pharisee and a Tax Collector

⁹Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else:

¹⁰Two men went into the temple to pray.^[j] One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.^[k] ¹¹The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed,^[l] “God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. ¹²I go without eating^[m] for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.”

¹³^(J) The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.”

¹⁴^(K) Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

(Matthew 19.13-15; Mark 10.13-16)

¹⁵Some people brought their little children for Jesus to bless. But when his disciples saw them doing this, they told the people to stop bothering him. ¹⁶So Jesus called the children over to him and said, “Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom.^[n] ¹⁷You will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child!”

A Rich and Important Man

(Matthew 19.16-30; Mark 10.17-31)

¹⁸An important man asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁹Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ²⁰^(L) You know the commandments: ‘Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Respect your father and mother.’ ”

²¹He told Jesus, “I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man.”

²²When Jesus heard this, he said, “There is one thing you still need to do. Go and sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” ²³When the man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴Jesus saw how sad the man was. So he said, “It's terribly hard for rich people to get into God's kingdom! ²⁵In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom.”

²⁶When the crowd heard this, they asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?”

²⁷Jesus replied, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”

²⁸Peter said, “Remember, we left everything to be your followers!”

²⁹Jesus answered, “You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or wife or brothers or family or children because of God's kingdom ³⁰will be given much more in this life. And in the future world they will have eternal life.”

Jesus Again Tells about His Death

(Matthew 20.17-19; Mark 10.32-34)

³¹Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and said:

We are now on our way to Jerusalem. Everything that the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will happen there. ³²He will be handed over to foreigners,^[o] who will make fun of him, mistreat him, and spit on him. ³³They will beat him and kill him, but three days later he will rise to life.

³⁴The apostles did not understand what Jesus was talking about. They could not understand, because the meaning of what he said was hidden from them.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

(Matthew 20.29-34; Mark 10.46-52)

³⁵When Jesus was coming close to Jericho, a blind man sat begging beside the road. ³⁶The man heard the crowd walking by and asked what was happening. ³⁷Some people told him that Jesus from Nazareth was passing by. ³⁸So the blind man shouted, “Jesus, Son of David,^[p] have pity on me!” ³⁹The people who were going along with Jesus told the man to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and told some people to bring the blind man over to him. When the blind man was getting near, Jesus asked, ⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see!” he answered.

⁴²Jesus replied, “Look and you will see! Your eyes are healed because of your faith.” ⁴³At once the man could see, and he went with Jesus and started thanking God. When the crowds saw what happened, they praised God.

Footnotes

17.3 followers: The Greek text has “brothers,” which is often used in the New Testament for followers of Jesus.
17.12 leprosy: See the note at 4.27.
17.14 show yourselves to the priests: See the note at 5.14.
17.21 here with you: Or “in your hearts.”
17.27,28 Noah … Lot: When God destroyed the earth by a flood, he saved Noah and his family. And when God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the evil people who lived there, he rescued Lot and his family (see Genesis 19.1-29).
17.31 rooftop: See the note at 5.19.
17.32 what happened to Lot's wife: She turned into a block of salt when she disobeyed God (see Genesis 19.26).
17.35,36 will be left: Some manuscripts add, “Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.”
17.37 Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures: This saying may mean that when anything important happens, people soon know about it. Or the saying may mean that whenever something bad happens, curious people gather around and stare. But the word translated “vulture” also means “eagle” and may refer to the Roman army, which had an eagle as its symbol.
18.10 into the temple to pray: Jewish people usually prayed there early in the morning and late in the afternoon.
18.10 tax collector: See the note at 3.12.
18.11 stood over by himself and prayed: Some manuscripts have “stood up and prayed to himself.”
18.12 without eating: See the note at 2.37.
18.16 People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom: Or “God's kingdom belongs to people who are like these children.”
18.32 foreigners: The Romans, who ruled Judea at this time.
18.38 Son of David: The Jewish people expected the Messiah to be from the family of King David, and for this reason the Messiah was often called the “Son of David.”