Luke 17:1-17

¹One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that will tempt people to sin are certain to happen, but it will be terrible for anyone who causes them to happen!

²Suppose you caused one of these people who do not believe in me very strongly to sin. If a huge stone was fastened {someone fastened a huge stone} around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, you would consider that a severe punishment, but God will punish you even more severely if you cause someone to sin!

³Be careful how you act. If you know about a fellow believer who sins, you (sg) should rebuke him. If he says that he is sorry for having sinned and asks you to forgive him, forgive him.

⁴Even if he sins against you (sg) seven times in one day, if he comes to you each time and says, ‘I am sorry for what I did’, you must continue forgiving him.”

⁵One day the apostles said to the Lord, “Help us to trust in you (OR, in God) more strongly!”

⁶The Lord replied, “Mustard seeds are very small, but in this area they grow and produce large MET plants. Similarly, if your faith grows until you truly believe that God will do what you ask him to, you will be able to do anything. You could even say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself out with your roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you!”

⁷Jesus also said, “Suppose that one of you had a servant who was plowing your fields or taking care of your sheep. After he comes into the house from the field, you (sg) would not say RHQ, ‘Sit down and eat immediately!’

⁸Instead, you would say to him, ‘Put on your apron and prepare a meal for me! Then serve it to me so that I can eat and drink! Afterwards you (sg) can eat and drink.’

⁹◄You will not thank your servant for doing the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do!/Would you thank your servant because he did the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do?► RHQ

¹⁰Similarly, when you (pl) have done everything that God has told you to do, you should say, ‘We (inc) are not worthy of God thanking us { being thanked}. We are only God's servants. We have only done the things that he told us to do.’”

¹¹As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road to Jerusalem, they were going through the region between Samaria and Galilee districts.

¹²As they entered one village, ten lepers came near the road. Because lepers were not permitted to come near other people, they stood at some distance

¹³and called out, “Jesus, Master, pity us and heal us!”

¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Each of you should go and show yourself to a priest in Jerusalem so that he can see if you are healed.” As they were going there, they were healed.

¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God loudly.

¹⁶He came to Jesus, prostrated himself at Jesus' feet, and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan, not a Jew.

¹⁷Then Jesus said, “ I healed ten lepers ◄I am disappointed that the other nine did not come back!/Where are the other nine?► RHQ