Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction.

"Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning;

Those slaves the master will find alert when he comes will be blessed. I assure you: He will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.

This shall ye understand, that if the good man of the house knew what hour the thief would have come, he would surely have watched: and not suffer his house to be broken up.

But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

And that servant who knew his master’s will, and yet did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will be beaten with many lashes [of the whip],

But he who, without knowledge, did things for which punishment is given, will get only a small number of blows. The man to whom much is given, will have to give much; if much is given into his care, of him more will be requested.

For as thou art going with thine adversary before the magistrate, on the way give diligence to be quit of him; lest haply he drag thee unto the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer shall cast thee into prison.

I say to you, you [absolutely] will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”

And he made up this story for them: A certain man had a fig-tree in his garden, and he came to get fruit from it, and there was no fruit.

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 if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Then the Warden of the Synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured her on a Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days in the week on which people ought to work. On those days therefore come and get yourselves cured, and not on the Sabbath day."

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?

And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

When the master of the house has got up, and the door has been shut, and you, still outside, give blows on the door, saying, Lord, let us in; he will make answer and say, I have no knowledge of where you come from.

But He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

but I must procede to-day and to-morrow and the following; for it cannot be supposed that a prophet should be cut off but in Jerusalem.

Listen carefully: your house is left to you desolate [abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

And he said to them, Which of you, whose ox or ass has got into a water-hole, will not straight away get him out on the Sabbath?

When you get a request to come to a feast, do not take the best seat, for a more important man than you may be coming,

And he said to the master of the house, When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward.

And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead.

And 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.

And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.

And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.

“And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body.

For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited shall get a taste of my dinner!'"

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple.

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

It is no good for the land or for the place of waste; no one has a use for it. He who has ears, let him give ear.

And when he has got it again, he takes it in his arms with joy.

And when he gets back to his house, he sends for his neighbours and friends, saying to them, Be glad with me, for I have got back my sheep which had gone away.

I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart.

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 she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me.

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

No long time afterwards the younger son got all together and travelled to a distant country, where he wasted his money in debauchery and excess.

I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

I am no longer good enough to be named your son: make me like one of your servants.

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son.

"But the father said to his servants, "'Fetch a good coat quickly--the best one--and put it on him; and bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet.

And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad.

Now the father's older son was [out] in the field. And when he came in and got close to the house he heard music and dancing.

"'Your brother has come,' he replied; 'and your father has had the fat calf killed, because he has got him home safe and sound.'

But the older son got angry and refused to go into [the house]. So, his father came out and pleaded with him [i.e., to come in and join the celebration].

And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

But it was [only] proper that we celebrate and have a good time, for this brother of yours was dead [spiritually], but is [now] alive again; he was lost [from me] but [now] is found.'"

The man replied, "A hundred jars of olive oil.' The manager told him, "Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write "50."'

Then he asked another debtor, "How much do you owe?' The man replied, "A hundred containers of wheat.' The manager told him, "Get your bill and write "80."'

So, his master commended the dishonest property manager for his shrewdness. For worldly people are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light [i.e., God's people].

If therefore you have not proved yourselves faithful in dealing with the wealth that is tainted with fraud, who will entrust to you the true good?

And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth] which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], 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 he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

"Every person who divorces his wife and marries another woman becomes sexually unfaithful to her [i.e., because he is still regarded by God as married to his first wife. See Matt. 19:9]. And the person who marries someone who has been divorced by her husband commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband].

Now there was a rich man and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer in splendour every day.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

'They have got Moses and the prophets,' said Abraham, 'they can listen to them.'

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.

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].

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith [our ability to confidently trust in God and in His power].”

And the Lord said, “If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you.

Will he not instead say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself [for service] and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?’

In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’”

And as He was going into one village, ten lepers met Him, who got up at some distance from Him,

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

Jesus said to him, “Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power] has restored you to health.”

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

People went on eating, drinking, marrying, and being married up to the very day that Noah got into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

but on the day that Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed them all.

On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.

Whoever is eager to get the most out of his life will lose it; but whoever will lose it shall preserve it.

And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired;

Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

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

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

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 unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?