And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and press [them] to come in, so that my house will be filled!

For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!'"

Now great crowds were going along with Him, and all at once He turned and said to them:

"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.

[And] whoever does not carry his own cross [i.e., his responsibilities with all their difficulties] and follow me cannot be my disciple.

For which of you, desiring to put up a tower, does not first give much thought to the price, if he will have enough to make it complete?

Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

They will say, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish!'

Or 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?

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

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

"Now salt [is] good, but if salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be made salty?

Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is?

I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it?

and when 'tis found, will she not call her friends aud neighbours together, and say, rejoice with me, for I have found the piece, I had lost?

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me that part of your property which will be mine. And he made division of his goods between them.

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

"But on coming to himself he said, "'How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger!

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

And having brought the fatted calf, kill it, and having eaten, we will be cheerful,

And his elder son was in the field: and while coming he drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

Then he called one of the lads to him and asked what all this meant.

And he said to him, Thy brother is come, and thy father has killed the fatted calf because he has received him safe and well.

"'All these years,' replied the son, 'I have been slaving for you, and I have never at any time disobeyed any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, for me to enjoy myself with my friends;

But when this son of yours came [home], after having squandered all you gave him on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.

"The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I will do, that when I shall have been removed from the stewardship I may be received into their houses.

"So he called all his master's debtors, one by one, and asked the first, 'How much are you in debt to my master?'

And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

Well, the master praised the dishonest factor for looking ahead; for the children of this world look further ahead in dealing with their own generation than the children of Light.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it runs out they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

He that is faithful in a small trust, will be faithful in a greater: and he that is unfaithful in a little, will be unfaithful in much.

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

The Law and the Prophets continued until John came: from that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been spreading, and all classes have been forcing their way into it.

But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out.

while at his outer door there lay a beggar, Lazarus by name,

“‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house;

for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

It were well for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

And if he should sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times in the day turn back, saying, I repent, thou will forgive him.

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

He will not {be grateful} to the slave because he did what was ordered, [will he]?

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

And it happened that while traveling toward Jerusalem, he was passing through {the region between} Samaria and Galilee.

When He saw them, He told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going, they were healed.

Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine?

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;

nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”

And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

And they will say to you, Lo here, or Lo there; go not, nor follow them.

For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, gives light to the other part of the sky, so [visible] will the Son of Man be in His day.

But first, he will have to undergo much and be put on one side by this generation.

And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man:

They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.

Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

I tell you, on that night [when Messiah comes again] there will be two [sleeping] in one bed; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.

There will be two women grinding [at the mill] together; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.

[Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”]

And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up.

And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

And shall not God at all avenge his elect, who cry to him day and night, and he bears long as to them?

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought:

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.”

But Jesus called them to Himself, saying [to the apostles], “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all.”

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Teacher, [by] doing what will I inherit eternal life?"

And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly will they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

Jesus told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God

who will not receive many times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

He will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities), and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on,

And when they have scourged him they will kill him; and on the third day he will rise again.