Luke 17
1 Then Jesus said to his disciples, It is impossible to exclude snares entirely; but, alas, for him who ensnares!
[One day Jesus] said to his disciples, “Things that will tempt [people] to sin are certain to happen, but it will be terrible for anyone who causes them to happen!
2 It would be more eligible for him to have an upper millstone fastened to his neck, and to be cast into the sea, than to ensnare one of these little ones.
Suppose you caused one of these people who [do not believe in me very strongly] to sin. If a huge stone was fastened {someone fastened a huge stone} around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, [you would consider that a severe punishment, but God will punish] you even more severely [if you cause someone to sin!]
3 Take heed yourselves: if your brother trespass against you, rebuke him; and if he reforms, forgive him;
Be careful [how you act]. If you [know about] a fellow believer who sins, you [(sg)] should rebuke him. If he [says that he] is sorry for having sinned [and asks you to forgive him], forgive him.
4 and if he trespass against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day return, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.
Even if he sins against you [(sg)] seven times in one day, if he comes to you each time and says, ‘I am sorry for what I did’, you must continue forgiving him.”
5 Then the Apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.
[One day] the apostles said to the Lord, “Help us to trust [in you] (OR, [in God]) more strongly!”
6 He answered, If you had faith, though it were but as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this sycamine, Be extirpated, and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
The Lord replied, “Mustard [seeds are very small, but in this area they grow and produce large] [MET] [plants]. [Similarly], if your faith grows until you truly believe that God [will do what you ask him to, you will be able to do anything]. You could [even] say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself out [with your roots] and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you!”
7 Would any of you, who has a servant plowing or feeding cattle, say to him on his return from the field, Come, immediately, and place yourself at table;
[Jesus also said], “Suppose that one of you had a servant who was plowing [your fields] or taking care of your sheep. After he comes into the house from the field, you [(sg)] would not say [RHQ], ‘Sit down and eat immediately!’
8 and not rather, Make ready my supper; gird yourself and serve me, until I have eat and drunk; afterward you may eat and drink?
Instead, you would say to him, ‘Put on your apron and prepare a meal for me! Then serve it to me so that I can eat and drink! Afterwards you [(sg)] can eat and drink.’
9 Is he obliged to that servant for obeying his orders? I suppose not.
(You will not thank your servant for doing the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do!/Would you thank your servant because he did the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do?) [RHQ]
10 In like manner say you, when you have done all that is commanded of you, We, your servants, have conferred no favor; we have done only what we were bound to do.
Similarly, when you [(pl)] have done everything that [God] has told you to do, you should say, ‘We [(inc)] are not worthy [of God thanking us] {[being thanked]}. We are only God’s servants. We have only done the things that he told us to do.’”
11 Now, in traveling to Jerusalem, he pass through the confines of Samaria and Galilee;
As [Jesus and his disciples] were walking along the road to Jerusalem, they were going through [the region] between Samaria and Galilee [districts].
12 and being about to enter a certain village, there met him ten lepers, who stood at a distance,
As they entered one village, ten lepers came near the road. [Because lepers were not permitted to come near other people], they stood at some distance
13 and cried out, Jesus, Master, take pity upon us.
and called out, “Jesus, Master, pity us [and heal us]!”
14 When he saw them, he said to them, Go, show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed.
When he saw them, he said [to them], “Each of you should go and show yourself to a priest [in Jerusalem so that he can see if you are healed].” As they were going [there], they were healed.
15 And one of them, perceiving that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God aloud.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God loudly.
16 Then throwing himself prostrate at the feet of Jesus, he returned him thanks. Now this man was a Samaritan.
He [came to Jesus], prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet, and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan, [not a Jew].
17 Jesus said, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Then Jesus said, “[I] healed ten [lepers] (I am disappointed that the other nine did not come back!/Where are the other nine?) [RHQ]
18 Have none returned glory to God except this alien?
I am disappointed [RHQ] that this non-Jewish man was the only one who returned to thank God; none of the others came back to me!”
19 And he said to him, Arise, go your way; your faith has cured you.
Then he said to the man, “Get up and continue on your journey. [God] [PRS] [has saved you and] healed you [(sg)] because you trusted [in me].”
20 Being questioned by the Pharisees, when the Reign of God should commence, he answered, The Reign of God is not ushered in with parade;
[One day] Jesus was asked by [some] Pharisees [SYN] {[some] Pharisees [SYN] asked [Jesus]}, “When is God [going] to rule as king?” He replied, “God’s ruling [MET] is not something people will be able to see with their eyes.
21 nor shall people say, Lo, here! or Lo, yonder! for behold, the Reign of God is within you.
And people will not be able to say, ‘Look! He is [ruling] here!’ Or ‘He is [ruling] over there!’ because, [contrary to what you think], God’s ruling is people’s inner beings (OR, is already happening among you).”
22 Then he said to his disciples, The time will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and shall not see it.
[Jesus] said to his disciples, “There will be a time when you will want to see [me] [MTY], the one who came from heaven, [ruling powerfully]. But you will not see that.
23 But when they say to you, Lo, here! or Lo, yonder! go not out to follow them.
[Some] people will say to you, ‘Look, [the Messiah] is over there!’ or [they will say] ‘Look, he is here!’ When they say that, do not believe them. Do not follow them [to go see the Messiah].
24 For as the lightning flashes in an instant from one extremity of the sky to the other, so will the appearance of the Son of Man be, in his day.
Because when the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, [everyone can see it. Similarly] [SIM], at the time [MTY] when [I], the one who came from heaven, come back again, [everyone will see me].
25 But first he must suffer much, and be rejected of this generation.
But before that happens, I must suffer in many ways (OR, very much). And I will be rejected by people {people will reject me}, [even though] they [have observed me doing good for people].
26 And, as it happened in Noah's days, it will also happen in the days of the Son of Man.
But when [I], the one who came from heaven, [come again, people] will be doing things just like people were doing at the time when [MTY] Noah [lived].
27 They eat, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, when the deluge came, and destroyed them all.
[At that time] people ate and drank [as usual], and they got married [as usual], up until the day when Noah [and his family] entered the big boat. But then the flood came and destroyed all those [who were not in the boat].
28 In like manner as it was in the days of Lot, they eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
Similarly, when Lot lived [in Sodom city], people [there] ate and drank [as usual]. They bought things and they sold things. They planted [crops] and they built [houses as usual].
29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, which destroyed them all;
But on the day that Lot [and his family] left Sodom, fire and [burning] sulfur came down from the sky and destroyed all those [who stayed in the city].
30 so it will be on the day when the Son of Man shall appear.
Similarly, when [I], the one who came from heaven, return to earth, [people will be unprepared] (OR, [enjoying normal life]).
31 On that day, let not him who shall be on the house-top, having his furniture in the house, come down to take it away. Let not him who shall be in the field, return home.
On that day, those who are outside their houses, with all the things that they own inside [the houses], must not go [in] to take them away, [because there will not be enough time to do that]. Similarly, those who are working in a field must not go back home [to get anything]; [they must flee immediately].
32 Remember Lot's wife.
Remember Lot’s wife! [Because she turned back and wanted to get some of her things from Sodom, she died immediately and became a pillar of salt].
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life, shall preserve it.
Anyone who wants to hold onto his life [and his possessions] will not [receive eternal] life. But anyone who is [willing to] die [for my sake] will live [eternally].
34 I tell you, there will be two men, that night, in one bed; one will be seized, and the other will be left.
I tell you this: On the night [when I return], there will be two people [sleeping] in one bed. The one [who believes in me] will be taken {[God] will take the one [who believes in me]} [to heaven], and the other one will be left [behind and punished] {and [he] will leave the other one [behind and punish him]}.
35 Two women will be grinding together; one will be seized, and the other will be left.
Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left {[God] will take one and leave the other} [behind].”
37 Then they asked him, Where, Master? He answered, Where the body is, the eagles will be assembled.
[His disciples] said to him, “Lord, where [will this happen]?” He replied to them, “Wherever there is an animal carcass, the vultures will gather [to eat it] [MET]. [Similarly, wherever there are people who are spiritually dead, God will punish them].”
