Luke 14

1One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat a meal at the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely.

2There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.

3Jesus responded by asking the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

4But they kept silent. So he took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way.

5Then he said to them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well, will you not pull him out at once on the Sabbath day?”

6And they could not reply to these things.

7When he noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable:

8“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not recline in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by him.

9Then the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then, in disgrace, you will have to take the lowest place.

10But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in front of all who are at the table with you.

11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12He also said to the man who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise they may invite you back, and you will be repaid.

13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

14Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

16Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a great banquet and invited many guests.

17At the time for the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

18But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I have to go out and see it. Please excuse me.’

19Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20Another said, ‘I have just gotten married, and so I cannot come.’

21The servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

22The servant said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and the hedges and compel people to come in, so that my house will be full.

24For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and said to them,

26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

27Whoever does not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

28For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see whether he has enough to finish it?

29Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,

30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

31Or what king, going out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33In the same way, then, none of you can be my disciple without giving up all your possessions.

34Salt is good, but if salt loses its taste, how will it be made salty again?

35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; people throw it out. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”