The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 3

The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 3 - 

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Chapter 8

And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve,

And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out,

And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs.

And when a great number of people came together, and men from every town went out to him, he gave them teaching in the form of a story:

A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven.

And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water.

And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth.

And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear.

And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story.

And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God.

Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.

And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up.

And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit.

And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.

No man, when the light is lighted, puts a cover over it, or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.

For nothing is put out of view which will not be made clear, and nothing is secret of which the knowledge will not come to light.

So take care how you give hearing, for to him who has will be given, and from him who has not will be taken even what he seems to have.

And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to get near him because of the great number of people.

And someone said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to see you.

But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it.

Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat.

But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger.

Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm.

And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says?

And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

And when he had come to the land, there came to him a certain man from the town who had evil spirits; and for a long time he had had no clothing on, and was not living in a house but in the place of the dead.

And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me.

For he gave an order to the evil spirit to come out of the man. For frequently it would take a grip of him: and he was kept under control, and prisoned with chains; but parting the chains in two, he would be sent by the driving of the evil spirit into waste places.

And Jesus said to him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for a number of spirits had gone into him.

And they made a request to him that he would not give them an order to go away into the deep.

Now there was a great herd of pigs in that place, getting food on the mountain: and the evil spirits made a request to him that he would let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

And the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs: and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the water and came to destruction.

And when the men who took care of them saw what had come about, they went quickly and gave news of it in the town and the country.

And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them.

And those who had seen it gave them an account of how the man who had the evil spirits was made well.

And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes made a request to him to go away from them; for they were in great fear: and he got into a boat and went back.

But the man from whom the evil spirits had gone out had a great desire to be with him, but he sent him away, saying,

Go back to your house and let them have news of all the great things which God has done for you. And he went away, giving word through all the town of the great things which Jesus had done for him.

And when Jesus went back, the people were glad to see him, for they were all waiting for him.

Then there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the Synagogue: and he went down at the feet of Jesus, desiring him to come to his house;

For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was near to death. But while he was on his way, the people were pushing to be near him.

And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had given all her money to medical men, and not one of them was able to make her well,

Came after him and put her hand on the edge of his robe, and straight away the flowing of her blood was stopped.

And Jesus said, Who was touching me? And when they all said, It is not I, Peter and those who were with him said, Master, the people are pushing round you on every side.

But Jesus said, Someone was touching me, for I had the feeling that power had gone out from me.

And when the woman saw that she was not able to keep it secret, she came, shaking with fear, and falling down before him she made clear before all the people the reason for her touching him, and how she was made well straight away.

And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.

While he was still talking, someone came from the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, saying, Your daughter is dead; do not go on troubling the Master.

But Jesus at these words said to him, Have no fear, only have faith, and she will be made well.

And when he came to the house he did not let any man go in with him, but only Peter and John and James, and the father of the girl and her mother.

And all the people were weeping and crying for her; but he said, Do not be sad, for she is not dead, but sleeping.

And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead.

But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up.

And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her.

And her father and mother were full of wonder, but he gave orders to them to say nothing about it to anyone.

Chapter 9

And getting the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and over diseases, to make them well.

And he sent them out to be preachers of the kingdom of God, and to make well those who were ill.

And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no stick or bag or bread or money, and do not take two coats.

And if you go into a house, let that house be your resting-place till you go away.

And if any people will not take you in, when you go away from that town, put off its dust from your feet for a witness against them.

And they went away, journeying through all the towns, preaching the good news and making people free from diseases in all places.

Now Herod the king had news of all these things: and he was in doubt, because it was said by some people that John had come back from the dead;

And by some, that Elijah had come; and by others, that one of the old prophets had come back to life.

And Herod said, I put John to death: but who is this, of whom such stories are given to me? And he had a desire to see him.

And the twelve, when they came back, gave him an account of what they had done. And he took them with him and went away from the people to a town named Beth-saida.

But the people, getting news of it, went after him: and he was pleased to see them, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God, and made those well who were in need of it.

And the day went on; and the twelve came to him and said, Send these people away so that they may go into the towns and the country round about and get resting-places and food for themselves, for we are in a waste place.

But he said, Give them food yourselves. And they said, We have only five cakes of bread and two fishes, if we do not go and get food for all these people.

For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them be seated in groups, about fifty to a group.

And they did so, and made them all be seated.

And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them, and when they had been broken, he gave them to the disciples to give to the people.

And they all took the food and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits which were over, twelve baskets full.

And it came about that when he was in prayer, by himself, and the disciples were with him, he put a question to them, saying, Who do the people say I am?

And they, answering, said, John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has come back.

And he said, But who do you say that I am? And Peter, answering, said, The Christ of God.

But he gave them special orders, not to say this to any man;

Saying, The Son of man will undergo much and be put on one side by the rulers and the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and be put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.

And he said to them all, If any man has a desire to come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross every day, and come after me.

For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it.

For what profit will a man have if he gets all the world, but undergoes loss or destruction himself?

For if any man has a feeling of shame because of me or of my words, the Son of man will have shame because of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

But truly I say to you, Some of those who are here now will have no taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.

And about eight days after he had said these things, he took Peter and John and James with him and went up into the mountain for prayer.

And while he was in prayer, his face was changed and his clothing became white and shining.

And two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him;

Who were seen in glory and were talking of his death which was about to take place in Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who were with him were overcome with sleep: but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were with him.

And when they were about to go away from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah: having no knowledge of what he was saying.

And while he said these things, the shade of a cloud came over them, and they were full of fear when they went into the cloud.

And there was a voice from the cloud saying, This is my Son, the man of my selection; give ear to him.

And after the voice was gone they saw that Jesus was by himself. And they kept quiet, and said nothing at that time to anyone of the things which they had seen.

And on the day after, when they came down from the mountain, a great band of people came to him.

And a man from among them, crying out, said, Master, I make a request to you, give a thought to my son, for he is my only child:

And see, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he gives a cry, twisted in pain and streaming at the lips, and when it goes away from him at last, he is marked as from blows.

And I made a request to your disciples to send it out of him, but they were not able to do it.

And Jesus said, O generation without faith and false in heart, how long will I have to be with you and put up with you? let your son come here.

And while he was coming, he was pushed violently down and twisted by the evil spirit. But Jesus gave sharp orders to the unclean spirit, and made the boy well, and gave him back to his father.

And they were full of wonder at the great power of God. But while they were all wondering at all the things which he did, he said to his disciples,

Let these words go deep into your ears, for the Son of man will be given up into the hands of men.

But this saying was not clear to them and its sense was kept secret from them so that they were not able to see it: and they had fear of questioning him about it.

Now there was a discussion among them about which of them would be the greatest.

But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their hearts, he took a small child and put him by his side,

And said to them, Whoever gives honour to this child in my name, gives honour to me: and whoever gives honour to me, gives honour to him who sent me: for whoever is least among you all, that man is great.

And John, answering, said, Master, we saw a man driving out evil spirits in your name, and we did not let him do it, because he was not one of us.

But Jesus said to him, Let him do it, for he who is not against you is for you.

And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,

And he sent men before: and they came to a small town of Samaria to make ready for him.

But they would not have him there, because he was clearly going to Jerusalem.

And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, may we send fire from heaven and put an end to them?

But turning round he said sharp words to them.

And they went to another small town.

And when they were on the way, a certain man said to him, I will come after you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have resting-places, but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head.

And he said to another, Come after me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father.

But he said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God.

And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house.

But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God.

Chapter 10

Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

Go on your way: see, I send you out like lambs among wolves.

Take no bag for money or for food, and no shoes; say no word to any man on the way.

And whenever you go into a house, first say, Peace be to this house.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will be with him: but if not, it will come back to you again.

And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to house.

And into whatever town you go, if they take you in, take whatever food is given to you:

And make well those in it who are ill and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you.

But if you go into a town where they will not have you, go out into the streets of it and say,

Even the dust of your town, which is on our feet, we put off as a witness against you; but be certain of this, that the kingdom of God is near.

I say to you, It will be better in that day for Sodom than for that town.

A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust.

But it will be better for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judging, than for you.

And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell.

Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.

And the seventy came back with joy, saying, Lord, even the evil spirits are under our power in your name.

And he said, I was watching for Satan, falling from heaven like a star.

See, I have given you power to put your feet on snakes and evil beasts, and over all the strength of him who is against you: and nothing will do you damage.

Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

In that same hour he was full of joy in the Holy Spirit and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children: for so, O Father, it was pleasing in your eyes.

All things have been given to me by my Father: and no one has knowledge of the Son, but only the Father: and of the Father, but only the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.

And, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Happy are the eyes which see the things you see:

For I say to you that numbers of prophets and kings have had a desire to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to have knowledge of the things which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?

And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it?

And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself.

And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life.

But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead.

And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side.

And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.

But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him,

And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him.

And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed.

Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves?

And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same.

Now, while they were on their way, he came to a certain town; and a woman named Martha took him into her house.

And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord’s feet and gave attention to his words.

But Martha had her hands full of the work of the house, and she came to him and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has let me do all the work? Say to her that she is to give me some help.

But the Lord, answering, said to her, Martha, Martha, you are full of care and troubled about such a number of things:

Little is needed, or even one thing only: for Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.