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].

¹⁷[When 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.’

²³[So] 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.’”

²⁵Now large crowds were 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.

²⁷[And] 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.”