But He said to him, "Man, who appointed me to judge or [decide on how] to divide [the property] between you two?"

And [then] He said to them, "Be careful and guard yourselves against [practicing] all forms of greed, for a person's life does not consist of having a lot of possessions."

Then he said [to himself], 'This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger [ones]; then I will store all my grain and [other] goods there [i.e., farm supplies].

But God said to him, 'You fool! Tonight your life will be taken away from you. And [then] who will get the things you have stored up [for yourself]?'

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "So, I tell you, do not worry about [the material things of] your life, [such as] what you will eat or what you will wear on your body.

Then Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for our benefit [only] or for all people?"

And Jesus also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'A rainstorm is coming up,' and sure enough, it does.

So, he said to the orchard worker, "Look, I have been coming [here] looking for figs for three years now, but have not found any. Cut down the tree, [for] why should it waste the space [i.e., by not producing]?"

And when Jesus saw her, He called and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your deformed condition."

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 as He said these things, all of His enemies felt ashamed [i.e., for objecting to such a noble act], but the whole crowd rejoiced over all the wonderful things He was doing.

And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox [Note: This is a metaphor signifying the sly, cunning nature of King Herod], 'Look, I am driving out evil spirits and performing [miraculous] healings today and tomorrow, but on the third day I will be finished.'

Then He said to them, "Which one of you, who has a son or an ox that falls into a well, would not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"

Then Jesus told a parable to those who had been invited [i.e., the dinner guests at the Pharisee's house. See verse 1], because He noticed how they were choosing places of honor [at the dinner table]. [So], He said to them,

Then Jesus also said to the Pharisee who had invited Him [to dinner], "When you prepare a breakfast or a supper, do not invite your friends, or brothers, or relatives or rich neighbors [only], for maybe they will invite you back, and [then] you will be repaid [for your kindness].

And when one of the people who were reclining at the [supper] table with Jesus heard this, he said to Him, "The person who will eat bread in the [coming] kingdom of God is [certainly] blessed."

Then all of them, in the same way, began to excuse themselves [from attending]. The first one said to the host, 'I just bought some land and I need to go out and look it over, so please excuse me [from attending the supper].'

And another person said, 'I just bought five teams of oxen and I need to go and test them out, so please excuse me [from attending the supper].'

And the third person said, 'I just got married, so I cannot attend [the supper].'

Then the slave returned and told his master about these things. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring people who are poor, and handicapped, and blind and crippled in here [i.e., to the supper].'

And the slave said, 'Master, I did what you ordered me to do, and still there is room [at the dinner table].'

Then the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the roads and along the brushy trails and urge people to attend [the supper] so that my house will be full [of guests].'

Now large crowds were following Jesus and He turned [around] and said to them,

Then Jesus said, "A certain man had two sons.

The younger one said to his father, 'Father, [please] give me my share of your property that I have coming.' So, the father divided up what he had to live on [with his two sons].

But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread to eat, and here I am, dying from hunger!

Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against [the God of] heaven and against you. I do not deserve to be called your son.'

But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

And the servant said to him, 'Your brother has come [home] and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he welcomed him back safe [from harm].'

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a property manager who was reported to be squandering his possessions.

So, he called his property manager in and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in a [full] report of [all] your financial transactions, for you are not working for me anymore.'

Then the property manager said to himself, What am I going to do since my master is taking away my job? I am not strong enough to dig [i.e., as a farm laborer], and I am too ashamed to beg.

So, he called on each one of his master's customers and said to the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?'

And he replied, 'Eight hundred gallons of [olive] oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your contract and quickly sit down and write in four hundred [gallons].'

Then he said to another [customer], 'And how much do you owe [him]?' And he answered, 'One thousand bushels of wheat.' The property manager said to him, 'Take your contract and write eight hundred [bushels].'

And He said to them, "You are people who claim to be just in the eyes of [other] people, but God knows [what is in] your hearts. For that which is held up as most important among people [i.e., fame or fortune ?] is disgusting in the eyes of God.

But Abraham said [to him], 'Son, remember how you enjoyed good things when you were alive [on earth] and how Lazarus had to put up with bad things? But now here [i.e., in the unseen place of departed spirits] he is being comforted and you are in agony.

Then the rich man said, 'I beg you therefore, forefather [Abraham], that you would send Lazarus to my father's house,

But Abraham said, 'They have [the writings of] Moses and the prophets; let them pay attention to them.'

Then the rich man said, 'No, forefather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, [then] they will repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives].'

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that occasions which cause people to be led astray [from God] will come, but it is too bad for that person who is responsible for it happening.

Then the apostles said to the Lord, "Give us more faith."

And the Lord said, "If you had faith as [small as] a mustard tree seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and replanted in the ocean,' and it would obey you.

And when Jesus saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." [See Lev. 13:49; 14:2ff]. And it happened, as they went [along], that they were healed.

Then Jesus said to the one [who had returned], "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well."

Then He said to the disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of man [i.e., the time when the Messiah would deliver His people from tribulation], but you will not see it [i.e., such deliverance would not occur during their lifetimes].

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

And for some time the judge refused to do it. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I do not revere God or respect man,

And the Lord said, "Listen to what [even] this unjust judge said [about the widow].

But Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, "Allow these little children to come to me and stop trying to prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these [i.e., humble ones. See Matt. 19:14].

When Jesus heard this He said to him, " [There is] one thing you still lack. Sell all your possessions and distribute [the money] to poor people; become my follower, [then] you will have treasure in heaven."

Now Jesus looked at him and said, "How difficult [it is] for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

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

Then Peter said, "Look, we have left our homes to follow you."

And Jesus said to the disciples, "Truly I tell you, there is no person who has left his house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God [i.e., to become a servant of the Lord],

And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight, your faith has made you well."

And when Jesus came to the tree, He said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down [from that tree], for I need to stay at your house today."

And when the crowd saw this, they began complaining [i.e., because Zacchaeus was a despised tax collector] and said, "He is going to lodge with a sinful man."

Then Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I [plan to] give half of my possessions to poor people. And if I have cheated anyone out of something, [I promise] to repay them four times as much."

Then Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, since he too [i.e., Zacchaeus] is a descendant of Abraham.

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

So, he called ten of his slaves and gave each of them a sum of money [Note: The amount of each sum was equivalent to one hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or about $7,000 in 1994]. [Then] he said to them, 'Invest this money until I return.'

So, the first one appeared in front of him, and said, 'Master, your sum of money has earned ten times more.'

Then the second slave appeared, and said, 'Master, your sum of money has earned five times more.'

And the gentleman said to him also, 'You [will] have charge over five towns.'

Then another slave appeared and said, 'Look, master, here is your sum of money. I kept it [safely] wrapped up in a cloth,

The gentleman replied to him, 'I will judge you [based] on what you [yourself] have [just] said, you evil slave. [Since] you knew that I am a hard man to deal with, picking up [and keeping] something I had not laid down, and harvesting a crop I had not planted,

Then he said to those who were standing around, 'Take the sum of money away from him and give it to the one who made ten times as much [with the original sum].'

But the people said to him, 'Master, he [already] has ten times as much money [as you gave him].'

And when Jesus had said this, He went on ahead [of His disciples. See Matt. 21:1] up to Jerusalem.

And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, 'Why are you untying the colt?'

But some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, speak sternly to your disciples [i.e., to prevent them from honoring Jesus]."

They said to Him, "Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]? Or, who is the one who gave you this authority?"

So, Jesus said to them, " [Then] neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do [about this]? I will send my dearly loved son. Hopefully, they will treat him with respect.'

He will come and kill those tenant farmers and will give the vineyard to other people." And when the people heard [Him say] this, they said, "May that never happen."

But Jesus looked at them and said, "Then what does it mean that is written [Psa. 118:22], 'The building block rejected by the builders [is] the same [one] that was made the principal stone by which the entire building was aligned?'

And they kept watching Him, [even] sending informants who pretended to be good [men], in order to get hold of something He said so they could turn Him over to the ruling authority of the governor.

But Jesus perceived their trickery, and said to them,

And they were not able to get hold of anything Jesus said in front of the people. And they marveled at His answer and did not say anything [further].

They said to Him, "Teacher, Moses wrote to us [Deut 25:5] that if a man's brother dies, leaving his widow [behind] without having had any children, his brother should marry his widow and father children [by her]. These children would then be considered his [dead] brother's.

And Jesus said to them, "The people of this age [i.e., who live on earth] marry and are given away in marriage,

And Jesus said to them [i.e., the Pharisees. See Matt. 22:41], "How is it that they [i.e., the experts in the law of Moses. See Mark 12:35] can say that the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one] is the son of David?

For David himself said in the book of Psalms [Psa. 110:1], 'The Lord [i.e., God] said to my [i.e., David's] Lord [i.e., Jesus], sit at my right side

Then Jesus said to His disciples in the hearing of all the people,

So, He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has thrown in more than all the rest [i.e., referring to the many rich people who were also throwing in money].

Then, as someone [i.e., of His disciples. See Mark 13:1], spoke of how the Temple was decorated with beautiful stones and objects dedicated as gifts, Jesus said,

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Nations will wage war against one another and kingdoms will attack one another.

And they said to Him, "Where do you want us to prepare [for it]?"

And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you [men] before I suffer [i.e., torture and death].

Then Jesus took a cup [Note: This was one of the cups partaken of during the Passover meal], and after giving thanks to God [for it], He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves,

Then He took a [small] loaf of bread, and after He had given thanks to God, He broke it and gave [pieces] to His apostles, and said, "This is [i.e., represents] my [physical] body which is [to be] given for you; continue to do this [i.e., eat it regularly] to remember me by."

And in the same way He took [another] cup, after the [Passover] meal, and said, "This cup is [i.e., represents] the New Agreement [i.e., between God and mankind] made by my blood, which is [to be] poured out for you.

And Jesus said to them, "The kings of the [unconverted] Gentiles lord it over their own people, and those who domineer over them are called 'Benefactors' [Note: This was a title used by Greek kings in Egypt and Syria].

And Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, you will deny [even] knowing me three times before the rooster crows today."

Then Jesus said to them, "When I sent you out without a money belt, or traveling bag [i.e., for personal belongings], or sandals, did you lack anything"? And the apostles answered, " [No], nothing."

Then He said to them, "But this time the person who has a money belt should take it, and also [he should take] a traveling bag. And if he does not have a sword, he should sell his coat and buy one.

And the apostles said, "Look, Lord, we have two swords [here]." And Jesus replied, "That is enough." [Note: Possibly Jesus means, "enough talk about weapons"].

And when He got there He said to them, "Pray that you do not give in [i.e., to the devil] under trials."

So, He said to them, "Why were you sleeping? Get up and pray so you do not give in [to the devil] under trials."