The New Testament

The New Testament › Luke

Luke 14

1When he went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him closely. 2And look, there was a man in front of him suffering from swelling. 3Jesus said to the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4They kept silent. He took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5Then he said to them, “Which of you, if his son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6They could not answer him about these things.

7He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they chose the places of honor. He said to them, 8“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not recline in the place of honor, in case someone more honored than you has been invited by him. 9Then the one who invited both you and him will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and you will begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will have honor before all who recline with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they invite you in return and you receive repayment. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they have nothing with which to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15When one of those reclining at the table heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16But he said to him, “Someone was giving a great dinner and invited many. 17At the dinner hour he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because it is ready now.’ 18They all alike began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you, excuse me.’ 19Another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you, excuse me.’ 20Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and for this reason I cannot come.’ 21The slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the town, and bring in here the poor, the disabled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22The slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ 23The master said to the slave, ‘Go out to the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

25Large crowds were traveling with him. He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and cannot finish, everyone who sees it will begin to mock him, 30saying, ‘This person began to build and could not finish.’ 31Or what king, going to meet another king in war, will not first sit down and consider whether he can meet with ten thousand the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If not, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33In the same way, then, everyone among you who does not give up all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

34“Salt, then, is good. But if even the salt loses its flavor, with what will it be seasoned? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it outside. Let whoever has ears to hear listen!”

Translation notes 6

14:2, 5 — Swelling and the well. “Swelling” describes the condition traditionally called dropsy, without identifying its underlying cause. The Greek base says “son or ox”; “donkey or ox” is a significant textual alternative.

14:8–10 — Reclining. Guests reclined to eat; their places expressed social honor. “Lowest” describes the least honored place, not necessarily its physical height.

14:12–14 — Invitations and repayment. The repeated repayment language contrasts inviting those who can reciprocate with inviting those who cannot. The forceful prohibition is retained rather than expanded into “do not invite only.”

14:23–24 — Compel and the dinner. The master orders that people be brought in insistently. The parable does not describe violent methods or authorize them as a program. The “you” in verse 24 is plural, creating a possible shift from the master's speech to Jesus' direct application; the draft leaves the verse within the story's speech.

14:26–27, 33 — Hate, cross, and possessions. “Hate” preserves Luke's stark word rather than replacing it with “love less.” In context it concerns the renunciation of family claims and one's own life for discipleship; it is not a separate command to mistreat family. The cross denotes an instrument of execution, not simply ordinary inconvenience. The repeated “cannot be my disciple” and the demand to give up possessions are retained in full.

14:34 — Salt. The verb can mean “become foolish,” but in this image means losing flavor or becoming ineffective as salt. The note records the possible wordplay without forcing nonsensical English into the reading text.