1One Sabbath, Jesus[a] went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guests[b] were watching Jesus[c] closely. 2A man whose body was swollen with fluid suddenly appeared in front of him. 3So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4But they kept silent. So he took hold of the man,[d] healed him, and sent him away.
5Then he asked them, “If your sone or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn't you?” 6And they couldn't argue with him about this.
7When Jesusf noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don't sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.[e] 9Then the host who invited both of you would come to you and say, ‘Give this person your place.’ In disgrace, you would have to take the place of least honor. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher,’ and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you. 11Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12Then he told the man who had
invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner,
stop inviting onlyg your friends,
brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in
return and you would be repaid. 13Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14Then you will be blessed because
they can't repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected.”
15Now one of those eating with him heard this and said to him, “How blessed is the person who will eath in the kingdom of God!”
16Jesusi said to him, “A man
gave a large banquet and invited many people. 17When it was time for the banquet,
he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is now
ready.’ 18Every single one of them began
asking to be excused. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to
go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I'm on my way
to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20Still another said, ‘I recently got married, so I can't
come.’
21“So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22The servant said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. 24Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.’”
25Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus.[f] He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be my disciple. 27Whoever doesn't carry his cross and follow me can't be my disciple.
28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. He will first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough money to finish it, won't he? 29Otherwise, if he lays a foundation and can't finish the building,[g] everyone who watches will begin to ridicule him 30and say, ‘This person started a building but couldn't finish it.’1428
31“Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He will first sit down and consider whether with 10,000 men he can fight the one coming against him with 20,000 men, won't he? 32If he can't, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace while the other king[h] is still far away. 33In the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.”
34“Now,
salt is good. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can its flavor be
restored? 35It is suitable neither for the
soil nor for the manure pile. People[i] throw it away. Let the
person who has ears to hear, listen!”
[a] 14:1 Lit. he
[b] 14:1 Lit. They
[c] 14:1 Lit. him
[d] 14:4 Lit. him
e 14:5 Other mss. read donkey; still other mss. read sheep
f 14:7 Lit. he
[e] 14:8 Lit. by
him
g 14:12 The Gk. lacks only
h 14:15 Lit. eat bread
i 14:16 Lit. He
[f] 14:25 Lit. him
[g] 14:29 The Gk. lacks the building
[h] 14:32 Lit. while he
[i] 14:35 Lit. They