Luke 14

The Cost of Discipleship and Parables of Humility and the Great Banquet

4 min read

1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they could not answer him again to these things. ¶
7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying to them,
8 When you are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him;
9 And he that bade you and him come and say to you, Give this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.
11 For whoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. ¶
12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.
13 But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. ¶
15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
16 Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. 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 maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. ¶
25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said to them,
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
29 Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an ambassador, and desires conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple. ¶
34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his flavor, with which shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
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