Luke 7

¹When he had finished saying everything he had to say in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ²Now a certain centurion had a slave who was sick and at the point of death, a man whom he highly valued. ³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and rescue his slave. ⁴When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you grant him this, ⁵for he loves our nation and he is the one who built our synagogue for us.”

⁶So Jesus went with them. But when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit to have you come under my roof. ⁷This is why I did not even deem myself worthy to come to you. Instead, just speak with a word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I too am a man stationed under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. Turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹Soon afterward, Jesus went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. ¹²As he approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A considerable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her in compassion, and he said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴Then he went up and touched the funeral bier, and the pallbearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, wake up!” ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶Awe seized them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has been raised up among us!” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷This account of him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.

¹⁸John’s disciples reported all these things to him. Summoning two of his disciples, John ¹⁹sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the Coming One, or should we look for someone else?” ²⁰When the men reached him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the Coming One, or should we look for someone else?’” ²¹In that very hour, Jesus healed many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many who were blind. ²²He answered them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news announced to them. ²³And how blessed is the one who does not trip over me.”

²⁴When John’s messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵No, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear expensive clothing and live in luxury are found in royal palaces. ²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. ²⁷This is the one about whom it stands written: ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ ²⁸I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹(When all the people heard this, including the tax collectors, they acknowledged the justice of God, having been baptized with John’s baptism. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by him.)

³¹“To what, then, shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a funeral dirge, and you did not weep.’ ³³For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Yet Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

³⁶One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷And look, a woman in that city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸Standing behind him at his feet and weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. She kissed his feet fervently and anointed them with the perfume.

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

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He said, “Teacher, say it.”

⁴¹“Two men were in debt to a certain moneylender. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²When they could not pay him back, he graciously cancelled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” Jesus said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

⁴⁴Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered 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 gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped fervently kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. ⁴⁷For this reason I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—and so she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹Those reclining at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go into peace.”