Luke 6

1On a Sabbath Jesus was walking through fields of grain. His disciples were pulling off heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands, and eating them. 2Some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing something the law forbids on the Sabbath?” 3Jesus answered them, “Have you not even read about what David did when he and the men with him were hungry? 4He went into the house of God, took the bread set out before God, and ate it, and he gave some to the men with him. Yet the law allows no one but the priests to eat that bread.” 5And he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath.”

6Another Sabbath came, and Jesus went into the synagogue and taught there. A man was present whose right hand was withered. 7The scribes and the Pharisees kept a close watch on him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge to bring against him. 8He knew their thoughts, though, and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come stand in the middle.” The man rose and stood there. 9Then Jesus said to them, “Let me put a question to you: on the Sabbath, does the law allow doing good, or doing harm? Saving a life, or destroying it?” 10Jesus looked around at every one of them. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did, and his hand was made healthy again. 11This filled them with mindless rage, and they talked together about what they could do to Jesus.

12During those days Jesus went off to the mountain to pray, and he stayed up all night in prayer to God. 13At daybreak he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them, giving them the name apostles. 14They were Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, and Simon’s brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, known as the Zealot; 16Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, the one who turned traitor.

17Coming down the mountain with them, Jesus stood on a flat stretch of ground. A big crowd of his disciples had gathered there, along with a huge number of people who had come from every part of Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the seacoast near Tyre and Sidon. 18They came to listen to him and to be cured of their illnesses, and people tormented by unclean spirits were made well. 19Everyone in the crowd kept trying to touch him, since power flowed out from him and healed every one of them.

20Then, with his eyes on his disciples, he said, “Blessed are you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. 21Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will eat your fill. Blessed are those of you who are in tears now, for you will laugh.

22Blessed are you when people hate you and push you out of their company, when they insult you and throw out your name as something evil, all because of the Son of Man. 23Be glad when that day comes, and jump for joy, because a great reward is waiting for you in heaven. Their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets. 24But how terrible for you who are rich, because you already have your comfort in full. 25How terrible for you who have eaten your fill now, because you will know hunger. How terrible for you who are laughing now, because you will grieve and cry.

26How terrible for you when all people praise you! Their ancestors did just the same for the false prophets.

27But to you who are listening I say this: love your enemies. Treat those who hate you well. 28Speak blessings on those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, present the other one as well. If anyone takes your coat, let them have your shirt too. 30Keep giving to everyone who asks you for something, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. 31However you want people to treat you, treat them the same way.

32If you love those who love you, what thanks do you deserve? After all, sinners too love those who love them back. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do as much. 34And if you lend to people you expect to pay you back, what thanks do you deserve? Sinners also lend to sinners, so as to get back as much again. 35Instead, love your enemies, treat them well, and lend without hoping to get anything back. Then you will receive a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High, since he is good to the thankless and the wicked. 36Show compassion, as your Father shows compassion. 37Do not sit in judgment on others, and you will never be judged. Do not pass sentence on them, and no sentence will be passed on you. Pardon others, and you will be pardoned. 38Give, and gifts will come to you: a full measure, packed down, shaken to settle it, and spilling over the top, will be poured into the fold of your robe. The measure you use for others is the measure that will be used for you.”

39He also told them a parable: “Can one blind person be a guide to another? Both of them will end up in a ditch, will they not? 40No disciple ranks above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully trained will become like the teacher. 41Why do you stare at the splinter in the eye of your brother or sister, and fail to notice the wooden beam in your own? 42How can you tell your brother or sister, ‘Brother or sister, here, let me get that splinter out of your eye,’ when you cannot see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Get the beam out of your own eye first. Then you will see well enough to remove the splinter from the eye of your brother or sister.

43For a sound tree does not yield rotten fruit, and a rotten tree does not yield sound fruit either. 44You can tell every tree by its own fruit. No one gathers figs from thorn plants or picks grapes off a bramble bush. 45From the good treasure in their heart, a good person produces what is good, and from what is evil, an evil person produces what is evil. For the mouth speaks out of what overflows the heart.

46Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord’ when you do not do what I tell you? 47Let me show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. 48That person is like someone building a house, who dug, went down deep, and laid the foundation on the bedrock. When a flood came, the river crashed against that house but did not have the strength to shake it, because it had been built well. 49But whoever hears and does not act is like someone who built a house on the bare ground with no foundation. The river crashed against it, and at once it fell in, and that house was utterly destroyed.”