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And it came to pass, on His going into the house of a certain one of the chiefs of the Pharisees, on a Sabbath, to eat bread, that they were watching Him,
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and behold, there was a certain dropsical man before Him;
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and Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
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And they were silent, and having taken hold of [him], He healed him, and let [him] go;
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and answering them He said, “Of which of you will a donkey or ox fall into a pit, and he will not immediately draw it up on the Sabbath day?”
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And they were not able to answer Him again to these things.
The Parable of the Guests
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And He spoke an allegory to those called, marking how they were choosing out the first couches, saying to them,
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“When you may be called by anyone to wedding feasts, you may not recline on the first couch, lest [one] more honorable than you may have been called by him,
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and he who called you and him having come will say to you, Give to this one [your] place, and then you may begin to occupy the last place with shame.
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But when you may be called, having gone on, recline in the last place, that when he who called you may come, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher; then you will have glory before those dining with you;
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because everyone who is exalting himself will be humbled, and he who is humbling himself will be exalted.”
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And He also said to him who called Him, “When you may make an early meal or a dinner, do not be calling your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they may also call you again, and a repayment may come to you;
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but when you may make a feast, be calling poor, maimed, lame, blind,
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and you will be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you, for it will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Banquet
(Matthew 22:1–14)
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And one of those dining with Him, having heard these things, said to Him, “Blessed [is] he who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God”;
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and He said to him, “A certain man made a great dinner, and called many,
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and he sent his servant at the hour of the dinner to say to those having been called, Be coming, because now all things are ready.
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And all began with one [voice] to excuse themselves. The first said to him, I bought a field, and I have need to go forth and see it; I beg of you, have me excused.
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And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go on to prove them; I beg of you, have me excused.
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And another said, I married a wife, and because of this I am not able to come.
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And that servant having come, told these things to his lord, then the master of the house, having been angry, said to his servant, Go forth quickly into the broad places and lanes of the city, and the poor, and maimed, and lame, and blind, bring in here.
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And the servant said, Lord, it has been done as you commanded, and still there is room.
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And the lord said to the servant, Go forth into the ways and hedges, and constrain to come in, that my house may be filled;
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for I say to you that none of those men who have been called will taste of my dinner.”
The Cost of Discipleship
(Matthew 8:18–22; Luke 9:57–62; John 6:59–66)
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And there were going on with Him great multitudes, and having turned, He said to them,
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“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and yet even his own life, he is not able to be My disciple;
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and whoever does not carry his cross, and come after Me, is not able to be My disciple.
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For who of you, willing to build a tower, does not first, having sat down, count the expense, whether he has the things for completing?
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Lest that he having laid a foundation, and not being able to finish, all who are beholding may begin to mock him,
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saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
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Or what king going on to engage with another king in war, does not, having sat down, first consult if he with ten thousand is able to meet him who is coming against him with twenty thousand?
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And if not so—he being yet a long way off—having sent a delegation, he asks the things for peace.
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So, then, everyone of you who does not take leave of all that he himself has, is not able to be My disciple.
Good Salt
(Matthew 5:13–16; Mark 9:49–50)
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The salt [is] good, but if the salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
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It is neither fit for land nor for manure—they cast it outside. He who is having ears to hear—let him hear.”
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