Luke 14

1 On a Sabbath day, Jesus went to the home of a leading Pharisee to eat with him. The people there were all watching him very closely.

2 A man with a bad disease was there in front of him.

3 Jesus said to the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it right or wrong to heal on the Sabbath day?"

4 But they would not answer his question. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent the man away.

5 Jesus said to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, "If your son or work animal falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you know you would pull him out immediately."

6 The Pharisees and teachers of the law could say nothing against what he said.

7 Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So he told this story:

8 "When someone invites you to a wedding, don't sit in the most important seat. They may have invited someone more important than you.

9 And if you are sitting in the most important seat, they will come to you and say, 'Give this man your seat!' Then you will have to move down to the last place and be embarrassed.

10 "So when someone invites you, go sit in the seat that is not important. Then they will come to you and say, 'Friend, move up here to this better place!' What an honor this will be for you in front of all the other guests.

11 Everyone who makes themselves important will be made humble. But everyone who makes themselves humble will be made important."

12 Then Jesus said to the Pharisee who had invited him, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite only your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. At another time they will pay you back by inviting you to eat with them.

13 Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind.

14 Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when all godly people rise from death."

15 One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to him, "What a great blessing it will be for anyone to eat a meal in God's kingdom!"

16 Jesus said to him, "A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people.

17 When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come. The food is ready.'

18 But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse. The first one said, 'I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.'

19 Another man said, 'I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them out. Please excuse me.'

20 A third man said, 'I just got married; I can't come.'

21 "So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, 'Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'

22 "Later, the servant said to him, 'Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.'

23 The master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full!

24 None of those people I invited first will get to eat any of this food.'"

25 Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them,

26 "If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life!

27 Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them when they follow me cannot be my follower.

28 "If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job.

29 If you don't do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, everyone would laugh at you.

30 They would say, 'This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.'

31 "If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If he has only 10,000 men, he will try to decide if he is able to defeat the other king who has 20,000 men.

32 If he thinks he cannot defeat the other king, he will send some men to ask for peace while that king's army is still far away.

33 "It is the same for each of you. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower.

34 "Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can't make it salty again.

35 It is worth nothing. You can't even use it as dirt or dung. People just throw it away. "You people who hear me, listen!"