Luke 17

Christ Teaches on Offenses

1 Then He said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.6 So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and sit down to eat? 8 But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.

Christ Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.13 And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!14 So when He saw them, He said to them, Go, show yourselves to the priests. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.17 So Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?19 And He said to him, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.

Christ Teaches on the Second Coming

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, See here! or See there! For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.22 Then He said to the disciples, The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, Look here! or Look there! Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.31 In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lots wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.37 And they answered and said to Him, Where, Lord? So He said to them, Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

LUKE 17

Faith and Service

(Matthew 18.6,7,21,22; Mark 9.42)

1 Jesus said to his disciples:
There will always be something that causes people to sin. But anyone who causes them to sin is in for trouble. A person who causes even one of my little followers to sin 2 would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck.

3 t So be careful what you do.
Correct any followerst of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry.

4 Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, “I am sorry,” you should still forgive that person.

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith stronger!”

6 Jesus replied:
If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all, and to plant itself in the ocean. And it would!
7 If your servant comes in from plowing or from taking care of the sheep, would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”? 8 No, you wouldn't say that. You would say, “Prepare me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.” 9 Servants don't deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do.

10 And that's how it should be with you. When you've done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”

Ten Men with Leprosy

13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14  t Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”t
On their way they were healed. 15 When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God.

16 He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria.
17 Jesus asked, “Weren't ten men healed? Where are the other nine? 18 Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?”

19 Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”

God's Kingdom

(Matthew 24.23-28,37-41)

21 There is no use saying, ‘Look! Here it is’ or ‘Look! There it is.’ God's kingdom is here with you.”t

22 Jesus said to his disciples:
The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not. 23 When people say to you, “Look there,” or “Look here,” don't go looking for him. 24 The day of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing across the sky. 25 But first he must suffer terribly and be rejected by the people of today. 26 t When the Son of Man comes, things will be just as they were when Noah lived.

27 t People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day when Noah went into the big boat. Then the flood came and drowned everyone on earth.
28  t When Lott lived, people were also eating and drinking. They were buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But on the very day Lot left Sodom, fiery flames poured down from the sky and killed everyone.

30 The same will happen on the day when the Son of Man appears.
31  t At that time no one on a rooftopt should go down into the house to get anything. No one in a field should go back to the house for anything.

32 t Remember what happened to Lot's wife.t
33  t People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them. 34 On that night two people will be sleeping in the same bed, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.

35-36 Two women will be together grinding wheat, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.t

37 Then Jesus' disciples spoke up, “But where will this happen, Lord?”
Jesus said, “Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.”t