Luke 14

₁One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. ₂And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ₃And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ₄But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ₅And he said to them, “Which of you, having a sonor an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ₆And they could not reply to these things.

₇Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ₈“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ₉and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ₁₀But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ₁₁For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

₁₂He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothersor your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ₁₃But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ₁₄and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

₁₅When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ₁₆But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. ₁₇And at the time for the banquet he sent his servantto say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ₁₈But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ₁₉And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ₂₀And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ₂₁So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ₂₂And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ₂₃And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ₂₄For I tell you,none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

₂₅Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ₂₆“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ₂₇Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ₂₈For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ₂₉Otherwise, when he has laid a 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 out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ₃₂And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ₃₃So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

₃₄“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ₃₅It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”