It was at this time that some people came to tell him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

"Do you suppose," replied Jesus, "that, because these Galileans have suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than any other Galileans?

He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.

Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?

And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

And just then [He met] a woman who had an [evil] spirit that had caused her to be deformed for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not raise herself up. [Note: This was probably osteomyelitis or osteoporosis].

But the official of the synagogue became angry because Jesus had healed [someone] on the Sabbath day. [Note: This was viewed as a violation of proper Sabbath day observance by certain Jews who interpreted the law of Moses with narrow legalism]. So, the official said to the crowd, "There are six days [in the week] for people to work. Therefore, you should come to be healed on one of them, and not on the Sabbath day."

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

And when he had made this speech, all his opposers were covered with shame: and all the multitude rejoiced in all the glorious things which were done by him.

This led him to say. "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

And He will say [i.e., the Lord is represented as saying this in the judgment. See Matt. 7:23; 8:11-12], 'I tell you, I do not know where you came from, [so] go away from me, all you people who have done sinful things.'

Note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

At that time, certain Pharisees came to him and said, Go away from this place, because Herod's purpose is to put you to death.

And he said unto them - Go and tell this fox, Lo! I am casting out demons, and, cures, am I finishing, to-day, and to-morrow, -

And there He saw a certain man suffering from dropsy [Note: This is a condition in which the tissues of the body retain too much fluid].

This led Jesus to ask the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it allowable to cure people on the Sabbath?"

They could not answer this.

Observing that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable--

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

On the contrary, when you are invited go and take the lowest place, that when your host comes round he may say to you, 'My friend, come up higher.' This will be doing you honour in the presence of all the other guests.

And one of those who were at table with him, hearing this, said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

And another said, 'I have married a wife, and for this [reason] I am not able to come.'

The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house was enraged, and said to his servant, 'Quick, go out to the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame.'

After this a great multitude being gather'd about him, he address'd himself to them,

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

"It is fit neither for the land nor the dung-hill; men cast it out. He who has ears to hear let him listen to this!"

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

"and he summoned one of the slaves, and began to inquire of him what all this meant.

This made him angry, and he would not go in. But his father came out and begged him to do so.

But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods.

And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

I must do something that will secure me a reception in other families, when I have lost my place in this.

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places.

If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth?

Now the Pharisees who loved money listened to all this and they jeered at him.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

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.

Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

It would be good [i.e., better] for him to have had a huge millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the ocean [Note: This "millstone" was a huge, circular stone rolled over grain to crush it and was moved by an animal walking in a circle], rather than having him cause one of these little ones [i.e., humble followers of the Lord] to be led astray [from God].

And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Perceiving this he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priest." And as they went they were made clean.

And threw himself on his face at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done; and this man was a Samaritan.

Have not any of them come back to give glory to God, but only this one from a strange land?

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

"And this was in the time of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of man.

after this manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.

On that day, the person who is on a housetop [Note: This was a flat area where people retired for rest, prayer, etc., with its stairway on the outside], whose belongings are [still] in his house, is not to go down and [attempt to] take any of them away. And the person who is in a field [i.e., doing farm work], also is not to return [to his house].

I tell you, in this night, there shall be two men in one bed; one shall be taken and the other left.

There will be two women grinding grain together [Note: This was done with a hand-operated millstone where two persons sat across from each other and rotated a circular stone over kernels of grain]; one will be taken while the other one will be left. {{Some ancient manuscripts include verse

[This verse is not in the majority of the Greek manuscripts.]

Then they asked him, "Where, Lord, will this take place?" He told them, "Wherever there's a corpse, there the vultures will gather."

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

He said, "There was a certain judge in this town who did not revere God nor respect man.

And he would not for a long while: but after this he said, Though I fear not God, nor respect man;

Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming.

"Listen" said the Lord, "to what this unjust judge says.

And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others:

The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer.

I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

Now some people were even bringing their infants to Jesus to have him touch them. But when the disciples saw this, they sternly told the people not to do that.

A ruler put this question to him. "Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Then Jesus hearing this, said to him, Yet one thing thou lackest: sell all whatsoever thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

Seeing this, Jesus said to his disciples: "How hard it is for men of wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!

So those who heard [this] said, "And who can be saved?"

Who will not get much more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.

And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

And it happened as Jesus was approaching Jericho [Note: This was a town about eighteen miles northeast of Jerusalem], that a certain blind man was [seen] sitting along side of the road, begging.

And hearing the sound of a great number of people going by, he said, What is this?

Instantly he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people gave praise to God when they saw this.

Now this was a rich man.

So, he ran on ahead [of the crowd] and climbed up a mulberry tree [Note: This was a tree that produced a fig-like fruit] in order to see Jesus, who was supposed to pass that way [soon].

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him: Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for I must spend this day at your house.

On seeing this, every one began to complain: "He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast."

And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham.

As they were listening to his words he added this parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear.

So, He said, "A certain distinguished gentleman went to a distant country to receive a royal appointment [i.e., as king over a territory] and then return. [Note: This is the only parable of Jesus' that correlates with a known incident; that of Herod's son Archelaus going to Rome to receive from Caesar Augustus an appointment to rule over Judea, Samaria and Idumaea in

And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come.

But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler.

Then said he also to this man, Be thou also over five cities.

And when he had said this, he went on in front of them, going up to Jerusalem.

And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying [it]?' you will say this: 'The Lord has need of it.'"

Now [as] he was drawing near by this time to the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began rejoicing to praise God with a loud voice for all the miracles that they had seen,

They were saying, 'May the King who comes in the name [i.e., by the authority] of the Lord, be blessed. May there be peace in heaven and praise [to God] in the highest [i.e., may this praise reach to the highest heaven].'

upon this some of the Pharisees, who were in the crowd, said to him, master, rebuke your disciples.

Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

They will throw you and your children, [who are] within your walls, to the ground and they will not allow one stone to remain on top of another in your city because you did not recognize that [God was] visiting you." [Note: This "visitation" refers either to the redemption which they had rejected or to the punishment of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70].

That the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people came to him and said, Make clear to us by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.

And they discussed [this] with one another, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'

And he gave the people this story: A man made a vine-garden and gave the use of it to some field-workers and went into another country for a long time.

The owner afterwards sent another servant; but the tenants beat and insulted this man too, and sent him away empty-handed.

And he proceeded to send a third, but they wounded [and] threw out this one also.