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that time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish too. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish too.”
6 Then He told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard, but when he went to look for fruit on it he did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who looked after his vineyard, ‘See here, for three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree, but I still haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the ground?
8 “He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 Then if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’,”
10 As He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand up straight at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was able to stand up straight, and she glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done. So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead away to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
17 When He said this, all His opponents were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the wonderful things He was doing.
18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
20 Again He said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until the yeast was worked all through the dough.”
22 Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching the people as He made His way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked Him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, you will stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us’. Then He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from’.
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets’.
27 “But He will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from Me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 And people will come from east and west, from north and south, and take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are some who are last that will be first, and some who are first that will be last.”
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and told Him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will cast out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete My work’. 33 Yet I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem!
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”