Luke 7:8-47

⁸For I also am a man who is under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant was well.

¹¹Soon after that, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

¹²As he came near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a rather large crowd from the town was with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, he was deeply moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”

¹⁴Then he went up and touched the wooden frame on which they carried the body, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Then fear overcame all of them, and they kept praising God, saying, “A great prophet has been raised among us” and “God has looked upon his people.”

¹⁷This news about Jesus spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the neighboring regions.

¹⁸John's disciples told him about all these things.

¹⁹Then John called two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to say, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

²⁰When they had come near to Jesus, the men said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to say, 'Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?'”

²¹In that hour he healed many people from sicknesses and afflictions and from evil spirits, and to many blind people he gave sight.

²²Jesus answered and said to them, “After you have gone on your way, report to John what you have seen and heard. Blind people are receiving sight, lame people are walking, lepers are being cleansed, deaf people are hearing, people who have died are being raised back to life, and needy people are being told the good news.

²³The person who does not stop believing in me because of my actions is blessed.”

²⁴After John's messengers had gone away, Jesus began to say to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

²⁵But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear expensive clothing and who live in luxury are in kings' palaces.

²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

²⁷This is he of whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

²⁸I say to you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is.”

²⁹(When all the people heard this, including the tax collectors, they declared that God is righteous, because they had been baptized with the baptism of John.

³⁰But the Pharisees and the experts in Jewish law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

³¹“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?

³²They are like children playing in the marketplace, who sit and call to one another and say, 'We played a flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a funeral song, and you did not cry.'

³³For John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'

³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, he is a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

³⁵But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

³⁶Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So after Jesus entered into the Pharisee's house, he reclined at the table to eat.

³⁷Behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. When she found out that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.

³⁸As she stood behind him near his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with perfumed oil.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he thought to himself, saying, “If this man were a prophet, then he would know who and what type of woman is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰Jesus responded and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He said, “Say it, Teacher!”

⁴¹Jesus said, “A certain moneylender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²When they could not pay him, he forgave them both. Therefore, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon answered him and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave the most.” Jesus said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

⁴⁴Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “You see this woman. I have entered into your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but from the time I came in she did not stop kissing my feet.

⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.

⁴⁷Therefore I say to you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven—for she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.”