Luke 14:1–24

¹One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. ²Right there before Him was a man with dropsy. ³So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

⁴But they remained silent.

Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. ⁵And He asked them, “Which of you whose son^a or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”

⁶And they were unable to answer these questions .

⁷When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable: ⁸“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited. ⁹Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’^b Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹²Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. ¹³But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast^c in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’

²¹The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

²³So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”