[1] One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged
to the Pharisees, they were watching him. [2] And behold, there was a man
before him who had dropsy. [3] And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and
Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?" [4] But
they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. [5] And
he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into
a well, will not immediately pull him out on a sabbath day?" [6] And they
could not reply to this. [7] Now he told a parable to those who were
invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,
[8] "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down
in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him;
[9] and he who invited you both will come and say to you, `Give place to
this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
[10] But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when
your host comes he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher'; then you will be
honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. [11] For every
one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted." [12] He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give
a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your
kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be
repaid. [13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay
you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." [15] When one of
those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is he
who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" [16] But he said to him, "A man
once gave a great banquet, and invited many; [17] and at the time for the
banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come;
for all is now ready.' [18] But they all alike began to make excuses. The
first said to him, `I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I
pray you, have me excused.' [19] And another said, `I have bought five yoke
of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' [20] And
another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' [21] So
the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in
anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' [22] And the
servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is
room.' [23] And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and
hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. [24] For
I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"
[25] Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them,
[26] "If any one 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,
he cannot be my disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come
after me, cannot be my disciple. [28] For which of you, desiring to build a
tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to
complete it? [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able
to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30] saying, `This man began
to build, and was not able to finish.' [31] Or what king, going to
encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel
whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with
twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off,
he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. [33] So therefore, whoever of
you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. [34] "Salt is
good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?
[35] It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it
away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
