Jesus talks about sin
(Also in Matthew 18:6-9; Mark 9:42-50)
1Jesus told his disciples: ‘There will always be temptation and people who will try to make you sin. But the people who tempt you will suffer a lot. 2If a person tempts a young believer and that young believer sins, then God will punish that person very hard. It would be better for him if they took a very big stone and tied it around his neck and threw him into the sea. 3You must help each other.
If a believer sins, you must talk to him and show him what he has done wrong. If he says he is sorry, then you must forgive him. 4And if he does 7 bad things to you on one day and he comes 7 times and says: “I am sorry. Please forgive me,” then you must forgive him 7 times.’
5The apostles asked the Lord: ‘Please help us to believe more strongly.’ 6Then the Lord said:
‘If you have a little faith, as small as a mustard_seed, then you will be able to say to this tree: “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree will do what you say.
7If one of your servants has ploughed or has looked after the sheep all day long and he comes home at night, what will you say to him? Will you say: “Come and sit, and eat first”? 8No, you will say to him: “Make me some food and serve me as a good servant always does. When I have finished eating and drinking, then you can eat.” 9You do not say thank you to the slave, because he does what he has to do.’
10Jesus said to his disciples:
‘You are like slaves. When you have done what I have told you to do, then you must say: “We are only servants of the Lord. We did what we had to do. We do not think He must reward us for doing this.” ’
Jesus heals 10 lepers
11Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He was on the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12When He came into a town, 10 lepers came to Him. They were standing far from Him 13and they shouted_loudly: ‘Jesus, Lord, please feel sorry for us and help us.’ 14Jesus looked at them and He said: ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’
When they started to go, they were healed. God made them pure. 15When they saw that they were healed, one of them turned back and he came to Jesus and praised God. He did it very loudly, and a lot of people could hear him. 16He knelt at the feet of Jesus with his face to the ground and he thanked Jesus. He was a Samaritan. 17Jesus was surprised and He said: ‘God has healed 10 lepers. Where are the other 9 people? 18Are they not thankful? Why did they not come to praise God? This man is not a Jew, but he was the only one who came to thank God.’
19Jesus said to the Samaritan: ‘Get up and go home. You have believed. That is why God has saved you.’
What will it be like when the Son of man comes again?
(Also in Matthew 24:36-44; Mark 13:32-37)
20The Pharisees asked Jesus: ‘When will the time come when everyone will know about God who is King?’ Jesus said to them: ‘You will not know before that time when it will happen. 21No one will be able to say: “Come and look, here is the Kingdom of God,” or “Go and look, there it is.” You can see that God is the King now, because I am with you and I am doing the work of God.’
22Then Jesus talked to his disciples and He said: ‘There will come a time when you will wish that you could just for once see that the Son of man is King, but you will not see it. 23Yes, people will say to you: “There He is,” or “Come and look, here He is.” But don't go. Do not listen to them. 24When the Son of man comes, it will be like lightning in the sky that you see from one side of the sky to the other side. 25But first, I, the Son of man, will suffer a lot and the people who live now will say: “We do not want Jesus to be our King.” 26When I, the Son of man, come again, it will be like in the days of Noah. 27At that time the people were eating and drinking and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed everything.
28At the time when Lot lived, it was the same. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling, planting and building. 29But on the day when Lot went out of the city of Sodom, fire and sulphur rained from heaven and it destroyed them all. 30It will be the same when I, the Son of man, appear.
31If someone is on the roof of his house, he must run. He must not first go into his house to get something. And if someone is in the field, he must not go home. 32You must remember what happened to Lot's wife.
33If you want to save your life, you will lose it. But if you say your life is not important because you serve Me, then you will have eternal_life. 34I tell you: On that night 2 people will be sleeping on a bed and God will save one person and not the other one. 35-36And 2 women will be together grinding wheat and God will save one woman but not the other one.’
37The disciples asked Jesus: ‘Lord, where will all this happen?’ Jesus said to them: ‘People will know, as they know that there is a dead body where vultures come together.’
