Warnings, Trust and Readiness in Luke

Luke 11

³⁷ Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in and sat at the table.

³⁸ When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.

³⁹ The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.

⁴⁰ You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?

⁴¹ But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.

⁴² But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”

⁴⁵ One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”

⁴⁶ He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.

⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸ So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹ Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,

⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation,

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

⁵² Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”

⁵³ As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him,

⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.

Luke 12

¹ Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

² But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.

³ Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

⁵ But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

⁶ “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria coins ? Not one of them is forgotten by God.

⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸ “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God;

⁹ but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of God’s angels.

¹⁰ Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer or what you will say;

¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”

²² He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.

²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

²⁴ Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

²⁵ Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?

²⁶ If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest?

²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

²⁸ But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

²⁹ “Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.

³⁰ For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things.

³¹ But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.

³² “Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

³³ Sell what you have and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

⁴⁹ “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.

⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.

⁵² For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.

⁵³ They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ He said to the multitudes also, “When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens.

⁵⁵ When a south wind blows, you say, ‘There will be a scorching heat,’ and it happens.

⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don’t interpret this time?

⁵⁷ “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

⁵⁹ I tell you, you will by no means get out of there until you have paid the very last penny. ”

Luke 13

¹ Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

² Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

³ I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.

⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?

⁵ I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”