Luke 14

¹Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.

²And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.

³And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the

⁴But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.

⁵Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a

⁶And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

⁷So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:

⁸“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;

⁹and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.

¹¹For whoever exalts himself will be

¹²Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.

¹³But when you give a feast, invite

¹⁴And you will be

¹⁵Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,

¹⁷and

¹⁸But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’

¹⁹And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’

²⁰Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

²¹So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the

²²And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’

²³Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

²⁴For I say to you

²⁵Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,

²⁶“If anyone comes to Me

²⁷And

²⁸For

²⁹lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

³¹Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

³³So likewise, whoever of you

³⁴“Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

³⁵It is neither fit for the land nor for the