Luke 6

¹ It happened that one Sabbath he was walking through the cornfields, and his disciples were pickingears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them.

² Some of the Pharisees said, 'Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath day?'

³ Jesus answered them, 'So you have not read what David did when he and his fol owers were hungry-

⁴ how he went into the house of God and took the loaves of the offering and ate them and gave them tohis fol owers, loaves which the priests alone are al owed to eat?'

⁵ And he said to them, 'The Son of man is master of the Sabbath.'

⁶ Now on another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was present, andhis right hand was withered.

⁷ The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure somebody on the Sabbath,hoping to find something to charge him with.

⁸ But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, 'Get up and stand out in themiddle!' And he came forward and stood there.

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, 'I put it to you: is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to savelife, or to destroy it?'

¹⁰ Then he looked round at them al and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He did so, and his handwas restored.

¹¹ But they were furious and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

¹² Now it happened in those days that he went onto the mountain to pray; and he spent the whole night inprayer to God.

¹³ When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he cal ed them 'apostles':

¹⁴ Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon cal ed the Zealot,

¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

¹⁷ He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a largegathering of his disciples, with a great crowd of people from al parts of Judaea and Jerusalem and the coastalregion of Tyre and Sidon

¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits werealso cured,

¹⁹ and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them al .

²⁰ Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said: How blessed are you who are poor: the kingdom of Godis yours.

²¹ Blessed are you who are hungry now: you shal have your fil . Blessed are you who are weeping now:you shall laugh.

²² 'Blessed are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal,on account of the Son of man.

²³ Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, look!-your reward wil be great in heaven. This wasthe way their ancestors treated the prophets.

²⁴ But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.

²⁵ Alas for you who have plenty to eat now: you shal go hungry. Alas for you who are laughing now: youshall mourn and weep.

²⁶ 'Alas for you when everyone speaks wel of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the falseprophets.

²⁷ 'But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.

²⁹ To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes yourcloak from you, do not refuse your tunic.

³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from someone who takes it.

³¹ Treat others as you would like people to treat you.

³² If you love those who love you, what credit can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them.

³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit can you expect? For even sinners do thatmuch.

³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you hope to get money back, what credit can you expect? Evensinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.

³⁵ Instead, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You wil have agreat reward, and you wil be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

³⁶ 'Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

³⁷ Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you wil not be condemned; forgive,and you wil be forgiven.

³⁸ Give, and there wil be gifts for you: a ful measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing,wil be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.'

³⁹ He also told them a parable, 'Can one blind person guide another? Surely both wil fal into a pit?

⁴⁰ Disciple is not superior to teacher; but ful y trained disciple wil be like teacher.

⁴¹ Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own?

⁴² How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take out that splinter in your eye," when you cannotsee the great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you wil see clearlyenough to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.

⁴³ 'There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit.

⁴⁴ Every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes frombrambles.

⁴⁵ Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what isbad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fil s the heart.

⁴⁶ 'Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?

⁴⁷ 'Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them -- I wil show you what such aperson is like.

⁴⁸ Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug deep, and laid thefoundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so welbuilt.

⁴⁹ But someone who listens and does nothing is like the man who built a house on soil, with nofoundations; as soon as the river bore down on it, it col apsed; and what a ruin that house became!'