ARKCODEX
Luke
Ch. 6–8
The Question about the Sabbath
1Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain.
2Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?”
3Jesus answered them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?
4He went into the house of God, took the bread offered to God, ate it, and gave it also to his men. Yet it is against our Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread.”
5And Jesus concluded, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Man with a Paralyzed Hand
6On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed.
7Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.
8But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Stand up and come here to the front.” The man got up and stood there.
9Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone's life or destroy it?”
10He looked around at them all; then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand became well again.
11They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God.
13When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles:
14Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
15Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot),
16Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.
Jesus Teaches and Heals
17When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon;
18they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed.
19All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.
Happiness and Sorrow
20Jesus looked at his disciples and said, “Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours!
21“Happy are you who are hungry now; you will be filled! “Happy are you who weep now; you will laugh!
22“Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man!
23Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.
24“But how terrible for you who are rich now; you have had your easy life!
25“How terrible for you who are full now; you will go hungry! “How terrible for you who laugh now; you will mourn and weep!
26“How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets.
Love for Enemies
27“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
29If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well.
30Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back.
31Do for others just what you want them to do for you.
32“If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them!
33And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that!
34And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount!
35No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.
36Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37“Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you.
38Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
39And Jesus told them this parable: “One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch.
40No pupils are greater than their teacher; but all pupils, when they have completed their training, will be like their teacher.
41“Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the log in your own eye?
42How can you say to your brother, ‘Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye,’ yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43“A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit.
44Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes.
45A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
The Two House Builders
46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet don't do what I tell you?
47Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them—I will show you what he is like.
48He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once—and what a terrible crash that was!”
Luke 7
Jesus Heals a Roman Officer's Servant
1When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum.
2A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die.
3When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant.
4They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, “This man really deserves your help.
5He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.”
6So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, “Sir, don't trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house,
7neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well.
8I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
9Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”
10The messengers went back to the officer's house and found his servant well.
Jesus Raises a Widow's Son
11Soon afterward Jesus went to a town named Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd.
12Just as he arrived at the gate of the town, a funeral procession was coming out. The dead man was the only son of a woman who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her.
13When the Lord saw her, his heart was filled with pity for her, and he said to her, “Don't cry.”
14Then he walked over and touched the coffin, and the men carrying it stopped. Jesus said, “Young man! Get up, I tell you!”
15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16They all were filled with fear and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said; “God has come to save his people!”
17This news about Jesus went out through all the country and the surrounding territory.
The Messengers from John the Baptist
18When John's disciples told him about all these things, he called two of them
19and sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”
20When they came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask if you are the one he said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”
21At that very time Jesus healed many people from their sicknesses, diseases, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many blind people.
22He answered John's messengers, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.
23How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”
24After John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak about him to the crowds: “When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind?
25What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in fancy clothes? People who dress like that and live in luxury are found in palaces!
26Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet.
27For John is the one of whom the scripture says: ‘God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.’
28I tell you,” Jesus added, “John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John.”
29All the people heard him; they and especially the tax collectors were the ones who had obeyed God's righteous demands and had been baptized by John.
30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God's purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John.
31Jesus continued, “Now to what can I compare the people of this day? What are they like?
32They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group shouts to the other, ‘We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!’
33John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, ‘He has a demon in him!’
34The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’
35God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it.”
Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee
36A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat.
37In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume
38and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!”
40Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.”
41“There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty.
42Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”
43“I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.” “You are right,” said Jesus.
44Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
45You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came.
46You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume.
47I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”
48Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
50But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 8
Women Who Accompanied Jesus
1Some time later Jesus traveled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him,
2and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out;
3Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod's court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.
The Parable of the Sower
4People kept coming to Jesus from one town after another; and when a great crowd gathered, Jesus told this parable:
5“Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it up.
6Some of it fell on rocky ground, and when the plants sprouted, they dried up because the soil had no moisture.
7Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up with the plants and choked them.
8And some seeds fell in good soil; the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each.” And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”
The Purpose of the Parables
9His disciples asked Jesus what this parable meant,
10and he answered, “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower
11“This is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God.
12The seeds that fell along the path stand for those who hear; but the Devil comes and takes the message away from their hearts in order to keep them from believing and being saved.
13The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who hear the message and receive it gladly. But it does not sink deep into them; they believe only for a while but when the time of testing comes, they fall away.
14The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear; but the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke them, and their fruit never ripens.
15The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.
A Lamp under a Bowl
16“No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.
17“Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be found and brought to light.
18“Be careful, then, how you listen; because those who have something will be given more, but whoever has nothing will have taken away from them even the little they think they have.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
19Jesus' mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd.
20Someone said to Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.”
21Jesus said to them all, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Jesus Calms a Storm
22One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they started out.
23As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.
24The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master! We are about to die!” Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm.
25Then he said to the disciples, “Where is your faith?” But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, “Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!”
Jesus Heals a Man with Demons
26Jesus and his disciples sailed on over to the territory of Gerasa, which is across the lake from Galilee.
27As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves.
28When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don't punish me!”
29He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet tied with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.
30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is ‘Mob,’” he answered—because many demons had gone into him.
31The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss.
32There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them.
33They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.
34The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms.
35People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.
36Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been cured.
37Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left.
38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, “Let me go with you.” But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39“Go back home and tell what God has done for you.” The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.
Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak
40When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the people welcomed him, because they had all been waiting for him.
41Then a man named Jairus arrived; he was an official in the local synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus' feet and begged him to go to his home,
42because his only daughter, who was twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side.
43Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors, but no one had been able to cure her.
44She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once.
45Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, the people are all around you and crowding in on you.”
46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me.”
47The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus' feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once.
48Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
49While Jesus was saying this, a messenger came from the official's house. “Your daughter has died,” he told Jairus; “don't bother the Teacher any longer.”
50But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, “Don't be afraid; only believe, and she will be well.”
51When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother.
52Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, “Don't cry; the child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”
53They all made fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.
54But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Get up, child!”
55Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.
56Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Proverbs
Ch. 26
1Praise for a fool is out of place, like snow in summer or rain at harvest time.
2Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light.
3You have to whip a horse, you have to bridle a donkey, and you have to beat a fool.