Luke 8

Some of the women who helped Jesus

1 After this, Jesus went to visit many towns and villages. He told people the good news about the kingdom of God. The 12 apostles were travelling with him. 2 Some women also went with them. These women had been ill, but Jesus had made them well again. One of the women was Mary from Magdala. Jesus had sent seven bad spirits away from her. 3 Another of the women was Joanna, the wife of Chuza. Chuza had authority over all the people that worked in the house of King Herod. Another of the women was Susanna. There were also many others. These women were using their own money to help Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus tells a story about seeds that a farmer planted

4 Lots of people were coming to Jesus from many towns. A large crowd had already come together when Jesus told this story:

5 ‘A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. Then people walked on them. Birds came down and they ate those seeds. 6 Some seeds fell on ground which had rocks. The seeds started to grow. But the young plants died because the ground was not wet enough in that place. 7 Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. 8 But some seeds fell on good soil. Strong plants grew from those seeds. Each of these plants made 100 seeds.’

When Jesus finished the story, he said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’

Jesus explains why he tells stories

9 Jesus' disciples asked him about this story. They asked him what it meant. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘God has let you know what these stories mean. You understand how God rules in the lives of his people. But other people only listen to my stories. They look, but they do not really see clearly. They hear the words, but they do not really understand.’

Jesus explains his story about the seeds

11 Jesus then said, ‘This is what the story means. The seeds are like the message from God. 12 Some seeds fell on the path. That is like some people who hear the message, but they do not think about it. The devil comes and he takes the message away from their minds. He takes it away so that they cannot believe it. Because they do not believe the message, God does not save them.

13 Some seeds fell on ground with rocks in it. This is like people who hear the message from God and they are very happy for a time. But they are like plants that have not put roots down into the soil. They believe in God for a short time. But when they have problems, they stop believing.

14 Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. This is like some other people who hear the message from God. But they start to have many troubles in their minds about how they will live. They want to get more money and more things. They think that this will make them happy. So they do not let God's message change them. They are like plants that do not grow into strong plants.

15 But some seeds fell on good soil. This is like other people who hear the message from God. They understand the message and they keep it in their minds. They are good and honest. They continue to believe. These people are like a good plant that grows well and makes lots of new seeds.’

16 Jesus then said, ‘People do not light a lamp and then cover it. They do not put the lamp under a pot or under a bed. Instead, they put it in a high place. Then other people that come into the room can see the light from the lamp.

17 God hides some things now. But there will be a time when people will see them. God keeps some things secret now. But there will be a time when people will understand those things clearly.

18 So you should think carefully about what you hear. The person who has received some things will receive more. But some other people have nothing. They think that they have a little bit. But they will lose even that.’

Jesus' mother and his brothers come to find him

19 Then Jesus' mother and his brothers came to see him. But they could not reach him because of the large crowd of people who were there. 20 Someone told Jesus, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They want to see you.’

21 Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are. My mother and my brothers are those people who hear God's message and do what he wants.’

Jesus stops a storm on Lake Galilee

22 One day, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, ‘We should go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they started to go across the lake. 23 While they sailed in the boat, Jesus began to sleep.

Then a strong wind started to blow across the lake. Water began to fill the boat and they were in danger. 24 So the disciples went to Jesus and they woke him. They said, ‘Master, master, we will die here in the water!’

Then Jesus got up and he spoke strongly to the wind and to the water. He said, ‘Stop!’ The wind stopped immediately and the water became flat. 25 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You should have trusted me.’

The disciples were afraid and very surprised. They asked each other, ‘Who is this man? He even tells the wind and the water what to do. He speaks and they obey him!’

Jesus sends a man's many bad spirits into pigs

26 Jesus and his disciples went to the place where the Gerasene people lived. This place is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus got out of the boat there, a man from the town came towards him. Bad spirits were living inside this man. He had not worn any clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived outside, among some graves. 28 When he saw Jesus, he screamed. Then he went down on his knees in front of Jesus and he said in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of the Most High God! What are you doing here? Please do not hurt me.’ 29 He said that because Jesus had already said to the bad spirit, ‘Come out of this man.’

The bad spirit had often taken hold of the man, so people watched him carefully. They tied his feet with metal chains. But when the bad spirit took hold of him, he often broke the chains. The bad spirit then caused him to go into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’

The man replied, ‘My name is Army.’ He said this because very many bad spirits had gone into him. 31 These bad spirits asked Jesus not to send them away to the deep hole below the earth.

32 There was a large group of pigs there and they were eating on the hill. The bad spirits asked Jesus, ‘Let us go into the pigs.’

Jesus replied, ‘Yes, you can go into them.’ 33 So the bad spirits came out of the man and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. They all died there in the water.

34 The men who were taking care of the pigs saw this happen. They ran away. They told the people in the town and in the villages what had happened. 35 So the people came out from these places to see what had happened. They came to Jesus. The man that the bad spirits had come out of was sitting there, beside Jesus' feet. Now he was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. When the people saw this, they were afraid. 36 Some people had seen Jesus make the man well. They told the other people how he had done this. 37 Then all the Gerasene people who lived in that place said to Jesus, ‘Please go away and leave us.’ They said this because they were very afraid.

So Jesus got back into the boat to leave that place. 38 Then the man that the bad spirits had gone out from said to Jesus, ‘Please let me come with you.’

But Jesus replied, 39 ‘No. You must return to your home. Tell people about everything that God has done for you.’

So the man went away. He went everywhere in the town and told all the people, ‘Jesus has done very good things for me.’

Jairus asks Jesus to make his daughter well

40 When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the crowd was very happy to see him. They were all waiting for him to come back. 41 Then a man called Jairus came to see him. He was a leader at the Jewish meeting place. He went down on his knees at the feet of Jesus and said, ‘Please come to my house. 42 I have one daughter. She is 12 years old and she is very ill. She will die very soon.’

So Jesus went with Jairus and a crowd of people went with him. They were pushing against him.

A sick woman touches Jesus' coat

43 There was a sick woman in the crowd who had lost blood for 12 years. She had paid all her money to doctors and now she had no money. But nobody could help her to become well again. 44 She came in the crowd behind Jesus and she touched the edge of his coat. Immediately she stopped bleeding. 45 Jesus asked, ‘Who touched me?’

Everyone around him said, ‘It was not me. I did not touch you.’

Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, there is a big crowd around you. Many people are pushing against you.’

46 Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch me. I know that something powerful went out from me.’

47 The woman knew that she could not hide herself. So she was very afraid. She came to Jesus and she went down on the ground in front of him. She spoke so that all the people could hear her. She said, ‘I wanted to be well again, so I touched Jesus. When I did that, I became well immediately.’

48 Jesus said to her, ‘Young woman, you are well again because you believed in me. Go now and have peace in your mind.’

Jesus makes Jairus's dead daughter become alive

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone arrived from Jairus' house. He told Jairus, ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not ask the teacher to come now.’

50 Jesus heard what the man said. So he said to Jairus, ‘Do not be afraid. Just believe in me. Then she will become well again.’

51 When they arrived at the house, Jesus would not let everyone go in with him. He took only Peter, John and James. He also let the mother and father of the girl go into the house. 52 All the people there were crying loudly because they were very sad. Jesus told them, ‘Do not weep. The child is not dead. She is only asleep.’

53 But the people knew that she had died. So they laughed at him. 54 But Jesus went and held the child's hand. He said to her, ‘My child, get up.’ 55 Then she became alive again. Immediately she stood up.

Jesus said to her parents, ‘Give her something to eat.’ 56 They were very surprised. Jesus said to them very strongly, ‘You must not tell anyone about what has happened.’

Luke 9

Jesus sends his 12 apostles to tell God's message

1 Jesus asked his 12 apostles to come to him. He gave them power and authority. They could make sick people well. They could also send bad spirits out of people. 2 Then he sent them out to tell people about the kingdom of God. He told them that they should also make sick people well again. 3 He said to them, ‘Do not take anything for your journey. Do not take a stick, or a bag, or food. Do not take any money. Do not take extra clothes. 4 In each town, continue to stay at the first house that you go into. Stay there until you leave that town. 5 In some towns, the people will not accept you. You should leave that place. Clean that town's dirt from your feet. Then it will be clear that they have done something wrong.’

6 Then the apostles started out. They went to visit all the villages. In every place they told people the good news about Jesus and they made sick people well.

Herod wants to meet Jesus

7 People told Herod, the ruler of Galilee, about all the things that were happening. His mind was confused because people were saying lots of different things about Jesus. Some people were saying, ‘John the Baptist died but now he has become alive again.’

8 Other people were saying, ‘It is Elijah that has come back.’

Some other people were saying, ‘This is one of God's prophets who lived a long time ago. Now he has become alive again.’

9 Herod said, ‘I sent a soldier to cut off John's head. So who is this man? I hear many things about him.’ After that, Herod was trying to meet Jesus.

Jesus feeds a crowd of 5,000 men and their families

10 The 12 apostles that Jesus had sent out returned. They told him what they had done. Then he took them away from the crowd, so that he could be alone with them. They went to a town called Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds realized what had happened. So they went to find Jesus. When he saw the crowds coming, he welcomed them. He taught them about the kingdom of God. Some sick people were there and he made them well again.

12 When it was nearly evening, the 12 apostles came to Jesus. They said, ‘There are no houses in this place. Send the crowd away now. Tell them to go to the villages and farms near here. Then they can get food to eat and they can find a place to sleep.’

13 Jesus said to them, ‘You should give them some food to eat.’

But the disciples said, ‘We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for all these people?’ 14 There were about 5,000 men in the crowd.

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Tell the people that they should sit down on the ground in groups. There should be about 50 people in each group.’

15 So they did this. When the people had sat down, 16 Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. Then he looked up towards heaven and he thanked God for the food. He broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread to the disciples, and they gave the bread to the crowd. 17 Everybody ate and they all had enough food. They were not hungry any more. Then the disciples picked up the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with all the little bits of food.

Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah

18 One day, Jesus was alone and he was praying. The disciples came to him. Jesus asked them, ‘When the crowds talk about me, who do they say that I am?’

19 They replied, ‘Some people say that you are John the Baptist. Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are one of God's prophets from long ago. They think that this prophet has become alive again.’

20 Jesus then asked them. ‘But what do you think? Who do you say that I am?’

Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah. God has sent you.’

21 Jesus spoke very strongly to them. He told them that they must not tell anyone about this.

22 Then he said, ‘The Son of Man will have to suffer in many ways. The important Jews, the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law will turn against him. People will kill him, but three days later God will cause him to become alive again.’

People who give their lives to serve Jesus have true life

23 Then Jesus said to all the people that were there, ‘A person who wants to be my disciple must not think about himself. He must decide that his own life is not important. Every day he must be like someone who carries his own cross to go and die. Then he may come with me as my disciple.

24 Whoever wants to keep his own life safe will lose it. But whoever agrees to lose his life because of me will have true life. 25 A person may get everything in the whole world for himself. But if he loses his life, it would not be any good for him. He will have destroyed himself in the end. 26 You must not be ashamed of me and of my words. If you are, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you. One day he will return and everyone will see his power. He will come with God's holy angels and he will have the bright glory of his Father God. He will be ashamed of you on that day, if you are ashamed of him now.’

Three disciples see how great Jesus is

27 Then Jesus said, ‘What I tell you is true. Some people who are standing here will see God begin to rule in his kingdom. They will see that before they die.’

28 About eight days after Jesus had said these things, he went up a mountain to pray. He took Peter, John and James with him. 29 While Jesus was praying, his face became different to look at. His clothes also became very white. They were shining brightly.

30 Then two men appeared and they were talking with Jesus. They were Moses and Elijah. 31 They were very bright to look at. They talked with Jesus about how he would soon die in Jerusalem. This was how God wanted him to leave this world.

32 While this was happening, Peter and his friends were sleeping. Then they woke up and they saw that Jesus was very bright with glory. They also saw the two men who were standing near to him. 33 Then the two men began to leave. So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please, let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ But Peter did not really know what he was saying.

34 While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared. It covered them all. When the cloud came over them, the three disciples were afraid. 35 Then a voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son. He is the one that I have chosen. Listen to him.’

36 The voice finished speaking. Then the three disciples saw that only Jesus was there with them now.

They did not tell anyone at that time about what they had seen.

Jesus sends a bad spirit out of a boy

37 The next day Jesus came down from the mountain with the three disciples. A large crowd met him. 38 A man from the crowd shouted to him. ‘Teacher, please, I ask you to help my son. He is my only child. 39 Sometimes a bad spirit takes hold of him and then he screams. The spirit throws his body first one way then another and water comes out of his mouth. The spirit gives him a lot of pain and it does not leave him alone very much. 40 I asked your disciples to send the bad spirit out of him. But they could not do it.’

41 Jesus said, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’

Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring your son here.’

42 While the boy was coming, the bad spirit threw him to the ground. It threw the boy first one way and then the other. Jesus said to it, ‘Stop!’ Then he made the boy well and he gave him back to his father.

43 Everybody was very surprised at what they saw. They knew that God was very powerful.

Jesus speaks a second time about his death

The people were very surprised about everything that Jesus was doing. Then Jesus said to his disciples, 44 ‘Do not forget what I am telling you now. Soon they will put the Son of Man under the power of his enemies.’

45 But they did not understand what Jesus had said. Its meaning was a secret to them, so they could not understand. They were afraid to ask Jesus, ‘What do you mean?’

Who is the most important in God's kingdom?

46 Then the disciples began to argue with each other. They argued about which of them was the most important. 47 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he took a child and he made him stand there at his side. 48 Jesus said, ‘If someone accepts this child because of me, then he also accepts me. And anyone who accepts me also accepts my Father God, who sent me. The person who makes himself the least important among you is really the greatest.’

49 John then said, ‘Teacher, we saw a man who was speaking to people who had bad spirits in them. He was saying, “Jesus says that you must come out.” We told the man that he must not do this. We said that because he is not in our group.’

50 Jesus said, ‘Do not try to stop him. If someone is not against you, he is working to help you.’

Some people in Samaria do not accept Jesus

51 The time came when God would soon take Jesus up to heaven. Jesus knew this, so he began to go towards Jerusalem. 52 He arrived near a village in Samaria. He sent some people into the village with a message. They went to ask for a place to stay for the night. 53 But the people in the village would not let him stay there. This was because he was going to Jerusalem.

54 Then James and John heard about what had happened. They asked Jesus, ‘Master, do you want us to ask God to send fire down from the sky? Do you want us to kill these people?’

55 Jesus turned round. He said, ‘No! Do not do that. It would be wrong.’ 56 Then they all went on to another village.

It is difficult to be a disciple of Jesus

57 They continued on their journey. A man came and said to Jesus, ‘I will go with you. And I will go with you everywhere that you go.’

58 Jesus replied, ‘Wild animals and birds have their own places to live. But I, the Son of Man, have no place of my own to lie down and rest.’

59 Then Jesus said to another man, ‘Come with me!’

The man replied, ‘First let me go home and bury my father. Then I will come with you.’

60 Jesus said, ‘No! Let people who are dead themselves bury their own dead people. You should go and tell people about the kingdom of God.’

61 Another man said, ‘Sir, I will come with you. But please let me first go home to say “Goodbye” to my family.’

62 Jesus replied, ‘A man that ploughs a field must continue to look straight in front of him. If he looks behind him, he cannot plough well. People that look back behind them cannot work well for the kingdom of God.’

Luke 10

Jesus sends out 72 disciples to tell God's message

1 After this, Jesus chose another 72 disciples. He sent them out two by two, to every town and village that he would visit soon. 2 Before they went, he said to them, ‘Many people are ready to believe God's message. They are like crops in a field at harvest time. But there are very few workers to bring in the crops. So pray to God to send out workers. The field and the crops belong to him.’

3 Jesus then said, ‘I am sending you out, so go! But listen! You will be like lambs among wild animals. 4 Do not carry a purse or a bag. Do not take extra shoes. When you meet other people on the road, do not stop to say “hello”.

5 In each town, when you go into a house, first ask God to bless the people there with peace. 6 If someone in the house loves peace, God will bless them with peace. But if nobody there loves peace, God will bless you with peace instead of them. 7 Stay in the same house there until you leave that town. Accept the food and drink that the people in the house give to you. You are working to help them. So they should give you what you need to live. Do not visit different houses to get food.

8 The people may accept you well when you go into a town. Then eat the food that those people give to you. 9 Make the sick people well who are there. Give this message to all the people there: “The kingdom of God has now come near to you.” 10 Sometimes when you go into a town, the people will not accept you. You should then go into the streets of that town and you should say to the people, 11 “There is dirt from your town on our feet. We will clean it off to show that you have not accepted us. God is not happy with you. But listen! You should know that the kingdom of God has come very near.” 12 One day God will punish the people from that town. Yes, he will punish them more than the people who lived in Sodom long ago.’

Jesus warns the people in three towns

13 Jesus then said, ‘You people in Chorazin, it will be very bad for you! And it will be very bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown that they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on sackcloth. They would also have put ashes on their heads. 14 Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people of Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish even more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida.

15 And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down into the deep hole of death!’

16 Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Whoever listens to you is also listening to me. Whoever does not accept you does not accept me. And whoever does not accept me does not accept my Father God, who sent me.’

The 72 disciples return to Jesus

17 Later, the 72 disciples that Jesus had sent out returned to him. They were very happy. They said, ‘ Lord, even bad spirits obey us. When we use your name, they do what we say.’

18 Jesus replied, ‘I saw Satan himself fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Listen! I have given power to you. You will even stand on dangerous snakes and insects and you will have authority over all the power of our enemy, Satan. Nothing will hurt you. 20 But do not be happy because you have authority over bad spirits. God has written your names in his book in heaven. That is why you should be happy.’

Jesus thanks his Father in heaven

21 At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over heaven and over the earth! People who do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from people who think that they are wise. They think that they understand everything. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’

22 Jesus then said, ‘My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father knows who I am, his Son. Only I know who the Father is, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him, so they know him too.’

23 Then Jesus turned and he spoke only to his disciples. He said to them, ‘Be happy because of the things that you are now able to see and understand. 24 I tell you this. Many prophets and kings from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you are seeing. They wanted to hear the message that you are hearing. But they did not hear it.’

God commands us to love other people

25 A teacher of God's Law stood up. He wanted to see how Jesus would answer his question. So he asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’

26 Jesus asked him, ‘What does God's Law say? What do you understand when you read it?’

27 The man replied, ‘It says that we must love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our strength. We must love him with all that we are and in all that we think. It also says that we must love other people as much as we love ourselves.’

28 Jesus said, ‘You have told me the right answer. If you do this, you will have true life with God.’

29 But the man wanted to show that he had been right to ask a question. So he asked, ‘Who are the people near to me that I must love?’

Jesus' story about a good man from Samaria

30 Jesus answered him with a story: ‘A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho town. On the way, some robbers attacked him. They took away all his clothes and they hit him with sticks. He was almost dead when they left him. 31 It happened that a priest from the temple was going along that road. He saw the man, who was lying there. But he walked past him on the other side of the road. 32 A Levite was also going along the road. He came to the place where the man was lying. He saw him. But he also walked past on the other side of the road.

33 But then a man from Samaria was also travelling along the road. He came to the place where the man was lying. When he saw him, he felt very sorry for him. 34 He went across to him. He poured oil and wine on the places where he was bleeding. Then he tied those places with clean cloths. After that, he put the man on his own donkey to carry him. They arrived at a small hotel. He took the man in there and he took care of him.

35 The next day, the man from Samaria took out two silver coins from his purse. He gave the money to the man who was taking care of the hotel. He said, “Be kind to this man for me. This money may not be enough. When I return, I will pay you for any more that you have spent on him.” ’

36 Then Jesus asked the teacher of God's Law a question. He said, ‘Three men saw the man that robbers had attacked. Which of them showed love to him, like a real friend?’

37 The teacher answered, ‘It was the man who was kind to him.’

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Yes. So you should go and be kind like that to other people.’

Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary

38 Jesus and his disciples continued their journey. They arrived at a certain village. There, a woman called Martha asked Jesus to come into her home. 39 Martha had a sister called Mary. Mary sat down near Jesus. She was listening to the things that he was teaching. 40 But Martha was thinking to herself, ‘I cannot do all this work alone.’ So she went to Jesus. She said, ‘Master, my sister is not helping me with the work. She has left me to do it alone. You surely do not think that this is right! Tell her that she should help me!’

41 The Lord Jesus replied, ‘Martha, Martha, you have troubles in your mind about many things. 42 But only one thing is really important. That is what Mary has chosen to do. Nobody will take it away from her.’