Luke 14

1One Sabbath he went to eat a meal at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there kept a close eye on him. 2There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with dropsy. 3Jesus responded by asking the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Does the law allow healing on the Sabbath, or does it not?” 4But they said nothing. So he took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5Then he said to them, “If one of you had a son or an ox that fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you not pull him out right away?” 6And they had no answer to give to this.

7When he saw how the guests were picking out the places of honor for themselves, he gave them a parable: 8“If you are invited to a wedding feast, do not settle yourself in the place of honor. Someone of higher rank than you may be among the guests, 9and the host who invited you both will come over and say, ‘Give your place to this guest.’ Then, to your shame, you will start down to the lowest place. 10No, when you are invited, go and take the last place at the table, so that when your host comes over he will tell you, ‘Friend, move further up.’ Then everyone eating with you will see the honor you are given. 11For everyone who lifts themselves up will be brought low, and the one who takes the low place will be lifted up.”

12Then he said to his host as well, “When you put on a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or your wealthy neighbors. They might ask you back, and that would be your repayment. 13Instead, when you hold a feast, ask the poor to come, and those who are maimed, lame, or blind. 14And you will be blessed, for they have no way to pay you back. Your repayment will come at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15One of the guests at the table heard this and said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will sit at the table in the kingdom of God!” 16He answered him, “Once a man was putting on a large dinner, and he had asked many people to it. 17When the hour of the dinner arrived, he sent his servant out to say to the guests he had asked, ‘Come, it is all ready now.’ 18But all of them alike began to ask to be excused. The first told him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I have to go out and look at it. I am asking you to excuse me.’ 19Another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am on my way to test them. I am asking you to excuse me.’ 20And another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and that is why I am not able to come.’ 21The servant came back and told his master all of this. At that the owner of the house was angry, and he said to his servant, ‘Hurry out into the squares and alleys of the town, and bring the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame in here.’ 22Then the servant said, ‘Master, your order has been carried out, and there are still empty places.’ 23The master told the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and the hedgerows, and press people to come in, so that my house will be full. 24For I tell you all, not a single one of the men I first invited will taste my dinner.’”

25Many crowds were walking along with him. He turned around and said to them, 26“No one can be my disciple who comes to me without hating their father and mother, their wife and children, their brothers and sisters, and even their own life. 27Unless a person carries their own cross and walks behind me, they cannot be my disciple. 28If any of you planned to build a tower, would you not sit down first and add up the expense, to find out whether you could afford to finish it? 29If you lay the foundation and cannot finish the job, everyone who sees it will start to make fun of you. 30They will say, ‘Here is someone who started to build and could not finish.’ 31Or what king sets out to fight another king without first sitting down to weigh whether his 10,000 troops can stand against an enemy who comes with 20,000? 32If he cannot, then while the other king is still a long way off, he will send envoys to ask how peace can be made. 33So it is with you: whoever does not let go of all that they have cannot be my disciple.

34So salt is a good thing. But if even salt goes flat, how will its flavor be brought back? 35It is no use for the field, or even for the manure heap; people just throw it away. Whoever has ears to hear should listen!”