Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

¹In the meantime, twhen so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, u“Beware of vthe leaven of the Pharisees, wwhich is hypocrisy. ²xNothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in yprivate rooms shall be proclaimed on zthe housetops.

Have No Fear

⁴“I tell you, my friends, ado not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him bwho, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.1 Yes, I tell you, fear him! ⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?2 And cnot one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷Why, deven the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; eyou are of more value than many sparrows.

Acknowledge Christ Before Men

⁸“And I tell you, feveryone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge gbefore the angels of God, ⁹but hthe one who denies me before men iwill be denied gbefore the angels of God. ¹⁰And jeveryone who speaks a word kagainst the Son of Man lwill be forgiven, but the one who mblasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹nAnd when they obring you before the synagogues and pthe rulers and pthe authorities, qdo not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹²rfor the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³sSomeone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, t“Man, uwho made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And he said to them, v“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, w“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷and he thought to himself, x‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ybarns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up zfor many years; relax, aeat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰But God said to him, b‘Fool! zThis night cyour soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, dwhose will they be?’ ²¹So is the one ewho lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Be Anxious

²²And he said to his disciples, f“Therefore I tell you, gdo not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴hConsider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. iOf how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his jspan of life?3 ²⁶If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,4 yet I tell you, keven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, lO you of little faith! ²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor mbe worried. ³⁰For nall the nations of the world seek after these things, and nyour Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, oseek phis5 kingdom, qand these things will be added to you.

³²r“Fear not, little sflock, for tit is your Father's good pleasure to give you uthe kingdom. ³³vSell your possessions, and wgive to the needy. xProvide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ya treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴zFor where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready

³⁵a“Stay dressed for action6 and bkeep your lamps burning, ³⁶and be like men who are cwaiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and dknocks. ³⁷eBlessed are those servants7 whom the master finds eawake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, fhe will dress himself for service and ghave them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ³⁹hBut know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ithe thief was coming, he8 would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be jready, for kthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, lare you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is mthe faithful and mwise nmanager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³oBlessed is that servant9 whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, phe will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master qis delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and rget drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that servant will come son a day when he does not expect him and sat an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷tAnd that servant who uknew his master's will but vdid not get ready uor act according to his will, will receive a wsevere beating. ⁴⁸xBut the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ywill receive a light beating. zEveryone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division

⁴⁹a“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰bI have a baptism to be baptized with, and how cgreat is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹dDo you think that I have come to give peace on earth? eNo, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, ffather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds, g“When you see ha cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵And gwhen you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be iscorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! jYou know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷“And why kdo you not judge lfor yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸mAs you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, nyou will never get out until you have paid the very last openny.”10