11 One time Yeshua was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of the talmidim said to him, “Sir, teach us to pray, just as Yochanan taught his talmidim.” ² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

⁵ He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine who has been travelling has just arrived at my house, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷ Now the one inside may answer, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, my children are with me in bed — I can’t get up to give you anything!’ ⁸ But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Is there any father here who, if his son asked him for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a snake? ¹² or if he asked for an egg would give him a scorpion? ¹³ So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”

¹⁴ He was expelling a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke; and the people were astounded. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “It is by Ba‘al-Zibbul” — the ruler of the demons — “that he expels the demons.” ¹⁶ And others, trying to trap him, demanded from him a sign from Heaven. ¹⁷ But he, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, with one house collapsing on another. ¹⁸ So if the Adversary too is divided against himself, how can his kingdom survive? I’m asking because you claim it is by Ba‘al-Zibbul that I drive out the demons. ¹⁹ If I drive out demons by Ba‘al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,^[a] then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!

²¹ “When a strong man who is fully equipped for battle guards his own house, his possessions are secure. ²² But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, he carries off all the armor and weaponry on which the man was depending, and divides up the spoils. ²³ Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering.

²⁴ “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest. On finding none, it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end the person is worse off than he was before.”

²⁷ As Yeshua was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice to call out, “How blessed is the mother that gave birth to you and nursed you from her breast!” ²⁸ But he said, “Far more blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

²⁹ As the people crowded around him, Yeshua went on to say, “This generation is a wicked generation! It asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it — except the sign of Yonah. ³⁰ For just as Yonah became a sign to the people of Ninveh, so will the Son of Man be for this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will appear at the Judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Shlomo, and what is here now is greater than Shlomo. ³² The people of Ninveh will stand up at the Judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they turned to God from their sins when Yonah preached, and what is here now is greater than Yonah.

³³ “No one who has kindled a lamp hides it or places it under a bowl; rather, he puts it on a stand, so that those coming in may see its light. ³⁴ The lamp of your body is the eye. When you have a ‘good eye,’ [that is, when you are generous,] your whole body is full of light; but when you have an ‘evil eye,’ [when you are stingy,] your body is full of darkness. ³⁵ So take care that the light in you is not darkness! ³⁶ If, then, your whole body is filled with light, with no part dark, it will be wholly lighted, as when a brightly lit lamp shines on you.”

³⁷ As Yeshua spoke, a Parush asked him to eat dinner with him; so he went in and took his place at the table; ³⁸ and the Parush was surprised that he didn’t begin by doing n’tilat yadayim before the meal. ³⁹ However, the Lord said to him, “Now then, you P’rushim, you clean the outside of the cup and plate; but inside, you are full of robbery and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Fools! Didn’t the One who made the outside make the inside too? ⁴¹ Rather, give as alms what is inside, and then everything will be clean for you!

⁴² “But woe to you P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You have an obligation to do these things — but without disregarding the others!

⁴³ “Woe to you P’rushim, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces!

⁴⁴ “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”

⁴⁵ One of the experts in Torah answered him, “Rabbi, by saying these things you are insulting us also.” ⁴⁶ Yeshua said, “Woe to you Torah experts too! You load people down with burdens they can hardly bear, and you won’t lift a finger to help them!

⁴⁷ “Woe to you! You build tombs in memory of the prophets, but your fathers murdered them! ⁴⁸ Thus you testify that you completely approve of what your fathers did — they did the killing, you do the building! ⁴⁹ Therefore the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and emissaries; they will kill some and persecute others’; ⁵⁰ so that on this generation will fall the responsibility for all the prophets’ blood that has been shed since the world was established, ⁵¹ from the blood of Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah, who was killed between the altar and the Holy Place. Yes, I tell you, the responsibility for it will fall on this generation!

⁵² “Woe to you Torah experts! For you have taken away the key of knowledge! Not only did you yourselves not go in, you also have stopped those who were trying to enter!”

⁵³ As Yeshua left that place, the Torah-teachers and the P’rushim began to oppose him bitterly and to provoke him to express his views on all sorts of subjects, ⁵⁴ laying traps to catch him in something he might say.

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!’”^[c]

14 One Shabbat Yeshua went to eat in the home of one of the leading P’rushim, and they were watching him closely. ² In front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. ³ Yeshua spoke up and asked the Torah experts and P’rushim, “Does the Torah allow healing on Shabbat or not?” ⁴ But they said nothing. So, taking hold of him, he healed him and sent him away. ⁵ To them he said, “Which of you, if a son or an ox falls into a well, will hesitate to haul him out on Shabbat?” ⁶ And to these things they could give no answer.

⁷ When Yeshua noticed how the guests were choosing for themselves the best seats at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, don’t sit down in the best seat; because if there is someone more important than you who has been invited, ⁹ the person who invited both of you might come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will be humiliated as you go to take the least important place. ¹⁰ Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the least important place; so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Go on up to a better seat.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone sitting with you. ¹¹ Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² Yeshua also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors; for they may well invite you in return, and that will be your repayment. ¹³ Instead, when you have a party, invite poor people, disfigured people, the crippled, the blind! ¹⁴ How blessed you will be that they have nothing with which to repay you! For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵ On hearing this, one of the people at the table with Yeshua said to him, “How blessed are those who eat bread in the Kingdom of God!” ¹⁶ But he replied, “Once a man gave a banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When the time came for the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready!’ ¹⁸ But they responded with a chorus of excuses. The first said to him, ‘I’ve just bought a field, and I have to go out and see it. Please accept my apologies.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I’ve just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to test them out. Please accept my apologies.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have just gotten married, so I can’t come.’ ²¹ The slave came and reported these things to his master.

“Then the owner of the house, in a rage, told his slave, ‘Quick, go out into the streets and alleys of the city; and bring in the poor, the disfigured, the blind and the crippled!’ ²² The slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³ The master said to the slave, ‘Go out to the country roads and boundary walls, and insistently persuade people to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet!’”

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling along with Yeshua. Turning, he said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers and his sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he cannot be my talmid. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own execution-stake and come after me cannot be my talmid.

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Don’t you sit down and estimate the cost, to see if you have enough capital to complete it? ²⁹ If you don’t, then when you have laid the foundation but can’t finish, all the onlookers start making fun of you ³⁰ and say, ‘This is the man who began to build, but couldn’t finish!’

³¹ “Or again, suppose one king is going out to wage war with another king. Doesn’t he first sit down and consider whether he, with his ten thousand troops, has enough strength to meet the other one, who is coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he hasn’t, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation to inquire about terms for peace.

³³ “So every one of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid. ³⁴ Salt is excellent. But if even the salt becomes tasteless, what can be used to season it? ³⁵ It is fit for neither soil nor manure — people throw it out. Those who have ears that can hear, let them hear!”

15 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear Yeshua, ² and the P’rushim and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said, “welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!” ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ “If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ When he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders; ⁶ and when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

⁸ “Another example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds it? ⁹ And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found the drachma I lost.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.”

¹¹ Again Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. ¹³ As soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless living. ¹⁴ But after he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch.

¹⁵ “So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any.

¹⁷ “At last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I’m going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ ²⁰ So he got up and started back to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — ’ ²² but his father said to his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; ²³ and bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a celebration! ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead, but now he’s alive again! He was lost, but now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ ²⁷ The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But the older son became angry and refused to go inside.

“So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ ‘Look,’ the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never disobeyed your orders. But you have never even given me a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ Yet this son of yours comes, who squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the fattened calf!’ ³¹ ‘Son, you are always with me,’ said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’”

16 Speaking to the talmidim, Yeshua said: “There was a wealthy man who employed a general manager. Charges were brought to him that his manager was squandering his resources. ² So he summoned him and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.’

³ “‘What am I to do?’ said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I’m not strong enough to dig ditches, and I’m ashamed to go begging. ⁴ Aha! I know what I’ll do — something that will make people welcome me into their homes after I’ve lost my job here!’

⁵ “So, after making appointments with each of his employer’s debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my boss?’ ⁶ ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back,’ he told him. ‘Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!’ ⁷ To the next he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back and write one for eight hundred.’

⁸ “And the employer of this dishonest manager applauded him for acting so shrewdly! For the worldly have more sekhel than those who have received the light — in dealing with their own kind of people!

⁹ “Now what I say to you is this: use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it gives out, you may be welcomed into the eternal home. ¹⁰ Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones, and someone who is dishonest in a small matter is also dishonest in large ones. ¹¹ So if you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who is going to trust you with the real thing? ¹² And if you haven’t been trustworthy with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what ought to belong to you? ¹³ No servant can be slave to two masters, for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.”

¹⁴ The P’rushim heard all this, and since they were money-lovers, they ridiculed him. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You people make yourselves look righteous to others, but God knows your hearts; what people regard highly is an abomination before God! ¹⁶ Up to the time of Yochanan there were the Torah and the Prophets. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is pushing to get in. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the Torah to become void. ¹⁸ Every man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced by her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹ “Once there was a rich man who used to dress in the most expensive clothing and spent his days in magnificent luxury. ²⁰ At his gate had been laid a beggar named El‘azar who was covered with sores. ²¹ He would have been glad to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table; but instead, even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²² In time the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Avraham’s side; the rich man also died and was buried.

²³ “In Sh’ol, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Avraham far away with El‘azar at his side. ²⁴ He called out, ‘Father Avraham, take pity on me, and send El‘azar just to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I’m in agony in this fire!’ ²⁵ However, Avraham said, ‘Son, remember that when you were alive, you got the good things while he got the bad; but now he gets his consolation here, while you are the one in agony. ²⁶ Yet that isn’t all: between you and us a deep rift has been established, so that those who would like to pass from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ where I have five brothers, to warn them; so that they may be spared having to come to this place of torment too.’ ²⁹ But Avraham said, ‘They have Moshe and the Prophets; they should listen to them.’ ³⁰ However, he said, ‘No, father Avraham, they need more. If someone from the dead goes to them, they’ll repent!’ ³¹ But he replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moshe and the Prophets, they won’t be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!’”

17 Yeshua said to his talmidim, “It is impossible that snares will not be set. But woe to the person who sets them! ² It would be to his advantage that he have a millstone hung around his neck and he be thrown into the sea, rather than that he ensnare one of these little ones. ³ Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ Also, if seven times in one day he sins against you, and seven times he comes to you and says, ‘I repent,’ you are to forgive him.” ⁵ The emissaries said to the Lord, “Increase our trust.” ⁶ The Lord replied, “If you had trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this fig tree, ‘Be uprooted and replanted in the sea!’ and it would obey you. ⁷ If one of you has a slave tending the sheep or plowing, when he comes back from the field, will you say to him, ‘Come along now, sit down and eat’? ⁸ No, you’ll say, ‘Get my supper ready, dress for work, and serve me until I have finished eating and drinking; after that, you may eat and drink.’ ⁹ Does he thank the slave because he did what he was told to do? No! ¹⁰ It’s the same with you — when you have done everything you were told to do, you should be saying, ‘We’re just ordinary slaves, we have only done our duty.’”

¹¹ On his way to Yerushalayim, Yeshua passed along the border country between Shomron and the Galil. ¹² As he entered one of the villages, ten men afflicted with tzara‘at met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out, “Yeshua! Rabbi! Have pity on us!” ¹⁴ On seeing them, he said, “Go and let the cohanim examine you!” And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ One of them, as soon as he noticed that he had been healed, returned shouting praises to God, ¹⁶ and fell on his face at Yeshua’s feet to thank him. Now he was from Shomron. ¹⁷ Yeshua said, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And to the man from Shomron he said, “Get up, you may go; your trust has saved you.”

²⁰ The P’rushim asked Yeshua when the Kingdom of God would come. “The Kingdom of God,” he answered, “does not come with visible signs; ²¹ nor will people be able to say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘Over there!’ Because, you see, the Kingdom of God is among you.” ²² Then he said to his talmidim, “The time is coming when you will long to see even one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ People will say to you, ‘Look! Right here!’ or, ‘See! Over there!’ Don’t run off, don’t follow them, ²⁴ because the Son of Man in his day will be like lightning that flashes and lights up the sky from one horizon to the other. ²⁵ But first he must endure horrible suffering and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ “Also, at the time of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was at the time of Noach. ²⁷ People ate and drank, and men and women married, right up until the day Noach entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot — people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built; ²⁹ but the day Lot left S’dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, if someone is on the roof with his belongings in his house, he must not go down to take them away. Similarly, if someone is in the field, he must not turn back — ³² remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever aims at preserving his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will stay alive. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed — one will be taken and the other left behind. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding grain together — one will be taken and the other left behind.” ^36 [d]

³⁷ They asked him, “Where, Lord?” He answered, “Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where the vultures gather.”

18 Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. ² “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. ³ There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.’ ⁴ For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people; ⁵ but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice — otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’”

⁶ Then the Lord commented, “Notice what this corrupt judge says. ⁷ Now won’t God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? ⁸ I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?”

⁹ Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹ The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ ¹³ But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵ People brought him babies to touch; but when the talmidim saw the people doing this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ However, Yeshua called the children to him and said, “Let the children come to me, and stop hindering them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Yes! I tell you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it at all!”

¹⁸ One of the leaders asked him, “Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?” ¹⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good but God! ²⁰ You know the mitzvot — ‘Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony, honor your father and mother, . . .’”^{[e] 21} He replied, “I have kept all these since I was a boy.” ²² On hearing this Yeshua said to him, “There is one thing you still lack. Sell whatever you have, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!” ²³ But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴ Yeshua looked at him and said, “How hard it is for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵ It’s easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” ²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ He said, “What is impossible humanly is possible with God.”

²⁸ Kefa said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹ Yeshua answered them, “Yes! I tell you that everyone who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ will receive many times as much in the ‘olam hazeh, and in the ‘olam haba eternal life.”

³¹ Then, taking the Twelve, Yeshua said to them, “We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where everything written through the prophets about the Son of Man will come true. ³² For he will be handed over to the Goyim and be ridiculed, insulted and spat upon. ³³ Then, after they have beaten him, they will kill him. But on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴ However, they understood none of this; its meaning had been hidden from them, and they had no idea what he was talking about.

³⁵ As Yeshua approached Yericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging. ³⁶ When he heard the crowd going past, he asked what it was all about; ³⁷ and they told him, “Yeshua from Natzeret is passing by.” ³⁸ He called out, “Yeshua! Son of David! Have pity on me!” ³⁹ Those in front scolded him in order to get him to shut up, but he shouted all the louder, “Son of David! Have pity on me!” ⁴⁰ Yeshua stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he had come, Yeshua asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Lord, let me be able to see.” ⁴² Yeshua said to him, “See again! your trust has healed you!” ⁴³ Instantly he received his sight and began following him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they too praised God.

19 Yeshua entered Yericho and was passing through, ² when a man named Zakkai appeared who was a chief tax-collector and a wealthy man. ³ He was trying to see who Yeshua was; but, being short, he couldn’t, because of the crowd. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed a fig tree in order to see him, for Yeshua was about to pass that way. ⁵ When he came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zakkai! Hurry! Come down, because I have to stay at your house today!” ⁶ He climbed down as fast as he could and welcomed Yeshua joyfully. ⁷ Everyone who saw it began muttering, “He has gone to be the house-guest of a sinner.” ⁸ But Zakkai stood there and said to the Lord, “Here, Lord, I am giving half of all I own to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.” ⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, inasmuch as this man too is a son of Avraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

¹¹ While they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because he was near Yerushalayim, and the people supposed that the Kingdom of God was about to appear at any moment. ¹² Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a country far away to have himself crowned king and then return. ¹³ Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten manim [a maneh is about three months’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business with this while I’m away.’ ¹⁴ But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵ “However, he returned, having been made king, and sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned in his business dealings. ¹⁶ The first one came in and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned ten more manim.’ ¹⁷ ‘Excellent!’ he said to him. ‘You are a good servant. Because you have been trustworthy in a small matter, I am putting you in charge of ten towns.’ ¹⁸ The second one came and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned five more manim; ¹⁹ and to this one he said, ‘You be in charge of five towns.’

²⁰ “Then another one came and said, ‘Sir, here is your maneh. I kept it hidden in a piece of cloth, ²¹ because I was afraid of you — you take out what you didn’t put in, and you harvest what you didn’t plant.’ ²² To him the master said, ‘You wicked servant! I will judge you by your own words! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, taking out what I didn’t put in and harvesting what I didn’t plant? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I would have gotten it back with interest!’ ²⁴ To those standing by, he said, ‘Take the maneh from him and give it to the one with ten manim.’ ²⁵ They said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten manim!’ ²⁶ But the master answered, ‘I tell you, everyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. ²⁷ However, as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence!’”

²⁸ After saying this, Yeshua went on and began the ascent to Yerushalayim. ²⁹ As he approached Beit-Pagei and Beit-Anyah, by the Mount of Olives, he sent two talmidim, ³⁰ instructing them, “Go into the village ahead; on entering it, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks why you are untying it, tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³² Those who were sent went off and found it just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴ and they said, “Because the Lord needs it.” ³⁵ They brought it to Yeshua; and, throwing their robes on the colt, they put Yeshua on it. ³⁶ As he went along, people carpeted the road with their clothing; ³⁷ and as he came near Yerushalayim, where the road descends from the Mount of Olives, the entire band of talmidim began to sing and praise God at the top of their voices for all the powerful works they had seen:

³⁹ Some of the P’rushim in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi! Reprimand your talmidim!” ⁴⁰ But he answered them, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones will shout!”

⁴¹ When Yeshua had come closer and could see the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you only knew today what is needed for shalom! But for now it is hidden from your sight. ⁴³ For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another — and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!”

⁴⁵ Then Yeshua entered the Temple grounds and began driving out those doing business there, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “The Tanakh says, ‘My House is to be a house of prayer,’^[g] but you have made it into a den of robbers!”^[h]

⁴⁷ Every day he taught at the Temple. The head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the leaders of the people tried to find a way of putting an end to him; ⁴⁸ but they couldn’t find any way of doing it, because all the people were hanging onto his every word.