Luke 14
1 One day--it was a Sabbath--He was taking a meal at the house of one of the Rulers of the Pharisee party, while they were closely watching Him.
One (Jewish day of rest/Sabbath day), Jesus went to eat [SYN] at the house of an important Pharisee. Some [men who studied the Jewish] laws and other Pharisees who were there were watching him carefully [to see if he would do something for which they could accuse him].
2 In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.
Unexpectedly, there was a man in front of Jesus whose arms and legs were swollen.
3 This led Jesus to ask the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it allowable to cure people on the Sabbath?"
Jesus said to them, “Is it permitted in [our(inc)] Jewish laws to heal [someone] (on our Jewish rest day/on the Sabbath), or not?”
4 They gave Him no answer; so He took hold of the man, cured him, and sent him away.
[They knew that their laws permitted it, but they thought that healing was work, which they thought was wrong to do] (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day) (OR, [they knew that their laws permitted it, but they did not want to admit it]). So they did not reply. Then Jesus put his hands on the man and healed him. Then he told him to go [home].
5 Then He turned to them and said, "Which of you shall have a child or an ox fall into a well on the Sabbath day, and will not immediately lift him out?"
Then he said to the rest of them, “If you had a son or an ox that fell into a well on a (Sabbath/our day of rest), would you immediately [work to] pull him out, [or would you(sg) let him stay there until the next day]?”
6 To this they could make no reply.
[They knew that they would immediately work to pull him out, even on their day of rest, so they could not justly say that Jesus did wrong by healing the man on that day. So] they said nothing in reply to Jesus.
7 Then, when He noticed that the invited guests chose the best seats, He used this as an illustration and said to them,
Jesus noticed that those people who had been {whom [the Pharisee] had} invited [to the meal] chose [to sit in] the places where important [people usually sit]. Then he gave [this advice] to them:
8 "When any one invites you to a wedding banquet, do not take the best seat, lest perhaps some more honoured guest than you may have been asked,
“When one of you [(sg)] is invited by someone {someone invites one of you [(sg)]} to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place where important people sit. Perhaps the man [giving the feast] has invited a man more important than you [(sg)].
9 and the man who invited you both will come and will say to you, 'Make room for this guest,' and then you, ashamed, will move to the lowest place.
[When that man comes], the man who invited both of you will come to you [(sg)] and say to you, ‘Let this man take your seat!’ Then you [(sg)] will have to take the most undesirable seat, and you will be ashamed.
10 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.
Instead, when you are invited {[someone] invites one of you} [to a feast], go and sit in the most undesirable seat. Then when the man who invited everyone comes, he will say to you [(sg)], ‘Friend, sit in a better seat!’ Then all the people who are eating with you [(sg)] will see that he is honoring you.
11 For whoever uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted.
Also, [remember this]: [God] will humble those who exalt themselves. And [he] will exalt those who humble themselves.”
12 Also to His host, who had invited Him, He said, "When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbours, lest perhaps they should invite you in return and a requital be made you.
[Jesus] also said to [the Pharisee] who had invited him to the meal, “When you [(sg)] invite people to a midday or evening meal, do not invite your friends or your family or your other relatives or your rich neighbors. They can later invite you [(sg) for a meal]. In that way they will repay you.
13 But when you entertain, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind;
Instead, when you [(sg)] give a feast, invite poor [people], crippled [people], lame [people], or blind [people].
14 and you will be blessed, because they have no means of requiting you, but there will be requital for you at the Resurrection of the righteous."
They will be unable to repay you. [But God will bless you! He] will repay you [at the time] when [he causes] righteous people to become alive again.”
15 After listening to this teaching, one of His fellow guests said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall feast in God's Kingdom."
One of those who were eating with Jesus heard him say that. He said to Jesus, “God [has truly] blessed [us Jews] who will eat [with the Messiah] when he starts to rule!”
16 "A man once gave a great dinner," replied Jesus, "to which he invited a large number of guests.
But [to show that many Jews whom God had invited would not accept God’s invitation] [MET], Jesus replied to him, “One time a man [decided] to prepare a large feast. He invited many people to come.
17 At dinner-time he sent his servant to announce to those who had been invited, "'Come, for things are now ready.'
When it was the day for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those who had been {whom he had} invited, ‘Come [now] because everything is ready!’
18 "But they all without exception began to excuse themselves. The first told him, "'I have purchased a piece of land, and must of necessity go and look at it. Pray hold me excused.'
But [when the servant did that], all of the people [whom he had invited] began to say why they did not want to come. The first [man the servant went to] said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please [ask your master to] forgive me for not coming!’
19 "A second pleaded, "'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am on my way to try them. Pray hold me excused.'
Another person said, ‘I have just bought five pair of oxen, and I must go to examine them. Please [ask your master to] forgive me for not coming!’
20 "Another said, "'I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'
Another person said, ‘I have just been married. So I cannot come.’
21 "So the servant came and brought these answers to his master, and they stirred his anger. "'Go out quickly,' he said, 'into the streets of the city--the wide ones and the narrow. You will see poor men, and crippled, blind, lame: fetch them all in here.'
So the servant returned to his master and reported what [everyone had said]. The owner of the house was angry [when he heard the reasons they gave for not] coming. He said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city [and find] poor and crippled and blind and lame [people, and bring] them here into [my house]!’
22 "Soon the servant reported the result, saying, "'Sir, what you ordered is done, and there is room still.'
[After the servant went and did that], he [came back and] said, ‘Sir, I have done what you [(sg)] told me to do, but there is still room [for more people].’
23 "'Go out,' replied the master, 'to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
[So] his master said to him, ‘Then go [outside the city]. Search for people along the highways. Search also along the narrow roads with hedges beside them [where homeless people may be staying]. Strongly urge the people in those places to come to [my house]. I want it to be full of [people]!’”
24 For I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my dinner.'"
[Then Jesus said], “I tell you [(pl)] this: Very few of you [Jewish] people will enjoy my feast, even though [I] invited you [first to eat it with me when I become king].”
25 On His journey vast crowds attended Him, towards whom He turned and said,
Large groups of people were traveling with [Jesus]. He turned and said to them,
26 "If any one is coming to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.
“If anyone comes to me who loves his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters [more than] [HYP] [he loves me], he cannot be my disciple. He must even love me more than he loves his own life!
27 No one who does not carry his own cross and come after me can be a disciple of mine.
[People who are ready to execute a prisoner make] him carry his cross [MET] [to the place where others will nail him] on it. Only those who are willing [to allow others to hurt them and disgrace them] like that because of being my disciples, and who are willing to obey what I teach, can be my disciples.
28 "Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sit down first and calculate the cost, asking if he has the means to finish it? --
[I will illustrate] [MET]. If one of you desired to build a (tower/big house), (you would surely first sit down and determine how much it would cost!/would you not first sit down and determine how much it would cost?) [RHQ] Then you would determine whether you had enough money to complete it.
29 lest perhaps, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him,
[If you did not do that], if you laid the foundation and were not able to finish [the rest of the tower], everyone who saw it would make fun of you.
30 saying, 'This man began to build, but could not finish.'
They would say, ‘This man started to build [a tower], but he was not able to finish it!’
31 Or what king, marching to encounter another king in war, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the one who is advancing against him with twenty thousand?
Or, if a king decided to [send his army to] war against another king, (he would surely first sit down [with those who] advised [him]./would he not first sit down [with those who] advised [him]?) [RHQ] They would determine whether [his army], which had only 10,000 soldiers, could defeat the [other army], which had 20,000 soldiers, and was about to attack his [army].
32 If not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers and sues for peace.
If he [decided] that his army could not [defeat that army], he would send messengers to [the other king] while the other army was still far away. He would tell the messengers to say to that king, ‘What things must I do to have peace with your country?’
33 Just as no one of you who does not detach himself from all that belongs to him can be a disciple of mine.
So, similarly, if any one of you does not first decide that you [(sg)] are [willing to] give up all that you have, you cannot be my disciple.”
34 "Salt is good: but if even the salt has become tasteless, what will you use to season it?
[Jesus also said, “You are like] [MET] salt, which is useful [to put on food]. But (salt certainly cannot be made {[you] certainly cannot make salt} to taste salty again if it stops tasting salty!/can salt be made {can [you] make salt} to taste salty again if it quits tasting salty?) [RHQ]
35 Neither for land nor dunghill is it of any use; they throw it away. Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"
[If salt does not taste salty any more], it is not good for the soil or even for the manure heap. [People] throw it away. [The same thing will happen to you if you become useless to God]. If you want to understand what I just said [IDM], you must consider [carefully] what you have heard!”
