Luke 14

¹And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him.

²And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy.

³And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?

⁴But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go.

⁵And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day?

⁶And they could not answer again unto these things.

⁷And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them,

⁸When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him,

⁹and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place.

¹⁰But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee.

¹¹For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

¹²And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.

¹³But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

¹⁴and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.

¹⁵And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

¹⁶But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many:

¹⁷and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

¹⁸And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused.

¹⁹And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused.

²⁰And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

²¹And the servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame.

²²And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room.

²³And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled.

²⁴For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.

²⁵Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them,

²⁶If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

²⁸For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it?

²⁹Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him,

³⁰saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

³²Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.

³³So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

³⁴Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

³⁵It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Luke 14

¹One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely.

²Right there before Him was a man with dropsy.

³So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

⁴But they remained silent. Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way.

⁵And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”

⁶And they were unable to answer these questions.

⁷When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:

⁸“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited.

⁹Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you.

¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹²Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid.

¹³But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,

¹⁴and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests.

¹⁷When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’

²¹The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

²³So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

²⁴For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

²⁵Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,

²⁶“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

²⁷And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,

³⁰saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

³¹Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

³²And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

³³In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

³⁴Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned?

³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”