21The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate.24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

25Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing.26So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on.27‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’28The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.29But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.30But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours.32But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

1Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.2So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

3The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.4I know what I will do, so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’5And he called in each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first.6‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Take your bill,’ said the manager. ‘Sit down quickly, and write fifty.’7Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him.

8The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.9I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.10Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?12And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?13No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The Law and the Prophets

14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.15So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

16The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

18Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores21and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.22One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.24So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

25But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.26And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

27‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house,28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’

29But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

30‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

31Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Temptations and Trespasses

1Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come!2It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.3Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.4Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

The Power of Faith

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

6And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.7Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?8Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’?9Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told?10So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

The Ten Lepers

11While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.12As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance13and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.15When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice.16He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.

17“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine?18Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”19Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!”

The Coming of the Kingdom

20When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs.21Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

22Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.23People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.24For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day.25But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.28It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.30It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.31On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.32Remember Lot’s wife!