Luke 13:2-27

²Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that this happened to those people from Galilee because they were more sinful than all the other people from Galilee?

³I assure you, that was not so! But instead of being concerned about them, you need to remember that God will similarly punish you eternally if you do not turn away from your sinful behavior.

⁴Or, consider the eighteen people who died when the tower at Siloam outside Jerusalem fell on them. Do you think that this happened to them because they were more sinful than all the other people who lived in Jerusalem?

⁵I assure you, that was not so! But instead, you need to realize that God will similarly punish you eternally if you do not stop your sinful behavior!”

⁶Then Jesus told them this illustration to show what God would do to the Jews, whom he continually blessed, but who did not do things that please him: “A man planted a fig tree on his farmland. ◄ Each year/Many times► he came to it looking for figs, but there were no figs.

⁷Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here ! I have been looking for fruit on this fig tree every year for the past three years, but there have been no figs. Cut it down! ◄It is just using up the nutrients in the soil for nothing!/Why should it continue using up the nutrients in the soil for nothing?► RHQ’

⁸But the gardener replied to the owner, ‘Sir, leave it here for another year. I will dig around it and put manure around it.

⁹If it bears fruit next year, we (inc) will allow it to keep growing. If it does not bear fruit next year, you (sg) can cut it down.’”

¹⁰One ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, Jesus was teaching people in one of the Jewish meeting places.

¹¹There was a woman there whom an evil spirit MTY had crippled for eighteen years. She was always bent over; she could not stand up straight.

¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over to him. He said to her, “Woman, I am freeing you (sg) from your illness!”

¹³He put his hands on her. Immediately she stood up straight, and she praised God!

¹⁴But the man in charge ◄of the synagogue/of the meeting place► was angry because Jesus had healed her ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►. He considered that healing was doing work. So he said to the people, “There are six days each week in which our Jewish laws permit people to work. If you need healing, those are the days to come ◄ to the synagogue/to the meeting place► and be healed. Do not come on our Jewish day of rest!”

¹⁵Then the Lord replied to him, “You (sg) and your fellow religious leaders are hypocrites! ◄On the Sabbath/On our Jewish day of rest►, just like on every other day, ◄each of you unties his ox or donkey, and then leads it from the food trough to where it can drink water./does not each of you untie his ox or donkey, and then lead it from the food trough to where it can drink water?► RHQ That is work, too!

¹⁶This woman is more important than an animal; she is a Jew, descended from Abraham! But Satan has kept her MET crippled for eighteen years, as though he had tied her up and not let her escape! So ◄it is certainly right that she be freed {that I free her}, even if this is a Sabbath day!/was it not right that she be freed {that I free her}, even if this is a Jewish rest day?► RHQ”

¹⁷After Jesus said that, all the people there who opposed him were ashamed. But all the other people there were happy about all the wonderful things he was doing.

¹⁸Then Jesus said, “◄I will tell you how the number of people who let God rule MET their lives will increase./Do you know how the number of people who let God rule MET their lives will increase?► RHQ I will tell you what I can compare it to.

¹⁹It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in his field. It grew until it became big, like a tree. It was so big that birds built nests in its branches.”

²⁰Then he said, “I will tell RHQ you something else, to illustrate how the people who let God rule MET their lives can influence their society more and more.

²¹It is like a little bit of yeast that a woman mixed with about fifty pounds of flour. That small amount of yeast made the whole batch of dough swell up.”

²²Jesus continued traveling, along with his disciples, through various towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem. As they went, he was teaching the people.

²³Someone asked him, “Lord, will there be only a few people who are saved {whom God saves}?” He replied to them, “ There will not be many, because the way to heaven MET is like a narrow door.

²⁴Therefore, try hard to enter that narrow doorway, because I tell you that many people will try to enter heaven by some other way, but they will not be able to get in.

²⁵God is like the owner of a house. Some day he will lock his door. Then some of you will begin to stand outside that door and knock. You will say, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘ No, I will not open it, because I do not know you, and I do not know where you are from!’

²⁶Then you will say, ‘◄ You must have forgotten!/Surely you know us, because► RHQ we (exc) ate meals with you (sg), and you taught people in the streets of our towns’!

²⁷But he will say, ‘ I tell you again, I do not know you, and I do not know where you are from. You are wicked people! Get away from here!’”