38 Then she went inside and stood behind Jesus. She was crying and her tears fell on his feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair, and she kissed them, then she poured all that special oil on to his feet.
39 The Jewish law man saw her do that and he said to himself, “I knew it. This man is not one of God’s men. He is letting a bad woman touch him. I reckon he doesn’t know she did a lot of bad things, so I reckon he doesn’t have God’s power.”
40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I want to tell you something.” Simon said, “All right, Teacher, tell me.”
41 Then Jesus told him a picture story, he said, “There was a rich man that used to lend money to people. He lent one man $500, and he lent another man $50.
42 But both of those men had bad luck and lost all their money. They couldn’t pay that money back to the rich man. But the rich man was good to both of them and told them, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll let it go. You don’t have to pay me that money.’ Well, Simon, what do you reckon? Which one of those men will love that rich man the most?”
43 Simon said, “I reckon it is the man that owed him the most money, and didn’t have to pay it back.” Jesus said, “You are right.”
44 Then he turned towards the woman and said, “Simon, look at this woman. When I came into your house, you didn’t give me water to wash my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair.
45 You didn’t kiss me on the cheek to make me feel good, but this woman keeps on kissing my feet.
46 You didn’t put any olive oil on my head, like people do for their friends, but she put special oil on my feet. It smells real good, and it cost her a lot of money.
47 Listen, I know she did a lot of bad things, but am telling her that I will let it go and I will say she is not guilty. That is why she loves me a lot. But if somebody only did a few bad things, and I let it go, they will only love me a little bit.”
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “That’s right. You did bad things, but I am letting it go, and I will say you are not guilty.”
49 The other people there said to each other, “Who does this man think he is? He reckons he can say that somebody is not guilty, and then God will not punish them for the bad things they did.”
50 But Jesus said to the woman, “You trusted me, so you will not get trouble for the bad things you did. Don’t worry, you can go away happy and quiet now.”