Luke 14

1 And it happened, when he came into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him closely. 2 And look, there was a man in front of him who had dropsy. [a] 3 And Jesus answered and said to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it allowed to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they kept quiet. And he took hold of him, cured him, and let him go. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, if a son or an ox falls into a well, will not pull him out at once on the Sabbath day?” [b] 6 And they were not able to answer back to these things.

7 And he told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the first places. He said to them: 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding, do not recline in the first place, in case someone more honored than you has been invited by him, 9 and the one who invited both you and him will come and say to you, ‘Give this man the place,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and recline in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then it will be an honor to you in front of all those reclining with you. 11 For everyone who lifts himself up will be brought low, and the one who brings himself low will be lifted up.”

12 And he also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a midday meal or a dinner, do not call your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbors, in case they also invite you back and it becomes a repayment to you. 13 But when you make a reception, call the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; [c] † 14 and you will be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you with — for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15 And when one of those reclining with him heard these things he said to him, “Blessed is whoever will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” 16 But he said to him, “A certain man was making a great dinner, and he invited many; 17 and he sent his slave at the hour of the dinner to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, because it is ready now.’ 18 And they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I have to go out and see it; I ask you, hold me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them; I ask you, hold me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’

21 “And the slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house was angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame.’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Master, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out to the roads and the hedges and press them to come in, so that my house may be filled; 24 for I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’” [d]

25 Now large crowds were traveling with 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, and his own life as well, he cannot be my disciple. [e] 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come behind me cannot be my disciple.

28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not strong enough to complete it, all who watch will begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not strong enough to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to meet another king in war, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is still far off he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, every one of you who does not say goodbye to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. [f]

34 “Salt then is good; but if even the salt is made tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? [g] 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it outside. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”