Luke 12-13

Complete Jewish Bible

12 Meanwhile, as a crowd in the tens of thousands gathered so closely as to trample each other down, Yeshua began to say to his talmidim first, “Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P’rushim, by which I mean their hypocrisy. ² There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not become known. ³ What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴ “My friends, I tell you: don’t fear those who kill the body but then have nothing more they can do. ⁵ I will show you whom to fear: fear him who after killing you has authority to throw you into Gei-Hinnom! Yes, I tell you, this is the one to fear! ⁶ Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, five for two assarions? And not one of them has been forgotten by God. ⁷ Why, every hair on your head has been counted! Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.

⁸ “Moreover, I tell you, whoever acknowledges me in the presence of others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. ⁹ But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before God’s angels. ¹⁰ Also, everyone who says something against the Son of Man will have it forgiven him; but whoever has blasphemed the Ruach HaKodesh will not be forgiven.

¹¹ “When they bring you before the synagogues and the ruling powers and the authorities, don’t worry about how you will defend yourself or what you will say; ¹² because when the time comes, the Ruach HaKodesh will teach you what you need to say.”

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi, tell my brother to share with me the property we inherited.” ¹⁴ But Yeshua answered him, “My friend, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then to the people he said, “Be careful to guard against all forms of greed, because even if someone is rich, his life does not consist in what he owns.” ¹⁶ And he gave them this illustration: “There was a man whose land was very productive. ¹⁷ He debated with himself, ‘What should I do? I haven’t enough room for all my crops.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I’ll store all my wheat and other goods there. ¹⁹ Then I’ll say to myself, “You’re a lucky man! You have a big supply of goods laid up that will last many years. Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will die! And the things you prepared — whose will they be?’ ²¹ That’s how it is with anyone who stores up wealth for himself without being rich toward God.”

²² To his talmidim Yeshua said, “Because of this I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Think about the ravens! They neither plant nor harvest, they have neither storerooms nor barns, yet God feeds them. You are worth much more than the birds! ²⁵ Can any of you by worrying add an hour to his life? ²⁶ If you can’t do a little thing like that, why worry about the rest? ²⁷ Think about the wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread; yet, I tell you, not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. ²⁸ If this is how God clothes grass, which is alive in the field today and thrown in the oven tomorrow, how much more will he clothe you! What little trust you have!

²⁹ “In other words, don’t strive after what you will eat and what you will drink — don’t be anxious. ³⁰ For all the pagan nations in the world set their hearts on these things. Your Father knows that you need them too. ³¹ Rather, seek his Kingdom; and these things will be given to you as well. ³² Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has resolved to give you the Kingdom! ³³ Sell what you own and do tzedakah — make for yourselves purses that don’t wear out, riches in heaven that never fail, where no burglar comes near, where no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit, ³⁶ like people waiting for their master’s return after a wedding feast; so that when he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him without delay. ³⁷ Happy the slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes! Yes! I tell you he will put on his work clothes, seat them at the table, and come serve them himself! ³⁸ Whether it is late at night or early in the morning, if this is how he finds them, those slaves are happy.

³⁹ “But notice this: no house-owner would let his house be broken into if he knew when the thief was coming. ⁴⁰ You too, be ready! For the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him.”

⁴¹ Kefa said, “Sir, are you telling this parable for our benefit only or for everyone’s?” ⁴² The Lord replied, “Nu, who is the faithful and sensible manager whose master puts him in charge of the household staff to give them their share of food at the proper time? ⁴³ It will go well with that servant if he is found doing his job when his master comes. ⁴⁴ Yes, I tell you he will put him in charge of all he owns. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking his time coming,’ and starts bullying the men- and women-servants, and eating and drinking, getting drunk, ⁴⁶ then his master will come on a day when the servant isn’t expecting him, at a time he doesn’t know in advance; his master will cut him in two and put him with the disloyal. ⁴⁷ Now the servant who knew what his master wanted but didn’t prepare or act according to his will, will be whipped with many lashes; ⁴⁸ however, the one who did what deserves a beating, but didn’t know, will receive few lashes. From him who has been given much, much will be demanded — from someone to whom people entrust much, they ask still more.

⁴⁹ “I have come to set fire to the earth! And how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have an immersion to undergo — how pressured I feel till it’s over! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to bring peace in the Land? Not peace, I tell you, but division! ⁵² For from now on, a household of five will be divided, three against two, two against three.

⁵⁴ Then to the crowds Yeshua said, “When you see a cloud-bank rising in the west, at once you say that a rainstorm is coming; ⁵⁵ and when the wind is from the south, you say there will be a heat wave, and there is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky — how is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? ⁵⁷ Why don’t you decide for yourselves what is the right course to follow? ⁵⁸ If someone brings a lawsuit against you, take pains to settle with him first; otherwise he will take the matter to court, and the judge will turn you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will throw you in jail. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you won’t get out of there till you have paid the last penny!”

13 Just then, some people came to tell Yeshua about the men from the Galil whom Pilate had slaughtered even while they were slaughtering animals for sacrifice. ² His answer to them was, “Do you think that just because they died so horribly, these folks from the Galil were worse sinners than all the others from the Galil? ³ No, I tell you. Rather, unless you turn to God from your sins, you will all die as they did!

⁴ “Or what about those eighteen people who died when the tower at Shiloach fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Yerushalayim? ⁵ No, I tell you. Rather, unless you turn from your sins, you will all die similarly.”

⁶ Then Yeshua gave this illustration: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit but didn’t find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘Here, I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree for three years now without finding any. Cut it down — why let it go on using up the soil?’ ⁸ But he answered, ‘Sir, leave it alone one more year. I’ll dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, well and good; if not, you will have it cut down then.’”

¹⁰ Yeshua was teaching in one of the synagogues on Shabbat. ¹¹ A woman came up who had a spirit which had crippled her for eighteen years; she was bent double and unable to stand erect at all. ¹² On seeing her, Yeshua called her and said to her, “Lady, you have been set free from your weakness!” ¹³ He put his hands on her, and at once she stood upright and began to glorify God.

¹⁴ But the president of the synagogue, indignant that Yeshua had healed on Shabbat, spoke up and said to the congregation, “There are six days in the week for working; so come during those days to be healed, not on Shabbat!” ¹⁵ However, the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Each one of you on Shabbat — don’t you unloose your ox or your donkey from the stall and lead him off to drink? ¹⁶ This woman is a daughter of Avraham, and the Adversary kept her tied up for eighteen years! Shouldn’t she be freed from this bondage on Shabbat?” ¹⁷ By these words, Yeshua put to shame the people who opposed him; but the rest of the crowd were happy about all the wonderful things that were taking place through him.

¹⁸ So he went on to say, “What is the Kingdom of God like? With what will we compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds flying about nested in its branches.”

²⁰ Again he said, “With what will I compare the Kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a bushel of flour, then waited until the whole batch of dough rose.”

²² Yeshua continued traveling through town after town and village after village, teaching and making his way toward Yerushalayim. ²³ Someone asked him, “Are only a few people being saved?” ²⁴ He answered, “Struggle to get in through the narrow door, because — I’m telling you! — many will be demanding to get in and won’t be able to, ²⁵ once the owner of the house has gotten up and shut the door. You will stand outside, knocking at the door and saying, ‘Lord! Open up for us!’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from!’ ²⁶ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you! you taught in our streets!’ ²⁷ and he will tell you, ‘I don’t know where you’re from. Get away from me, all you workers of wickedness!’ ²⁸ You will cry and grind your teeth when you see Avraham, Yitz’chak, Ya‘akov and all the prophets inside the Kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside. ²⁹ Moreover, people will come from the east, the west, the north and the south to sit at table in the Kingdom of God. ³⁰ And notice that some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”

³¹ Just at that moment, some P’rushim came up and said to Yeshua, “Get out and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!” ³² He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Pay attention: today and tomorrow I am driving out demons and healing people, and on the third day I reach my goal.’ ³³ Nevertheless, I must keep travelling today, tomorrow and the next day; because it is unthinkable that a prophet should die anywhere but in Yerushalayim.

³⁴ “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! ³⁵ Look! God is abandoning your house to you! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai!’”^[b]