The Testimony of Yeshua

Luke 12: Meanwhile, large crowds had gathered by the tens of thousands and they were trampling on each other. Yeshua (Jesus) told His disciples, “First of all, watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees, they are con men. 2 There is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed—no secret that won’t be known. 3 Anything you’ve said in the dark will be heard in the light, and anything you have whispered in someone’s ear in a private room will be shouted from the house tops.

4 But to you My friends, I say, don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body, because afterward there is nothing more they can do. 5 But I’ll show you who to be afraid of. Be afraid of the One who has the authority to cast you into Gehenna after killing you. Yes I tell you, be afraid of Him. 6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assarii? Yet Yehovah hasn’t forgotten one of them. 7 As for you, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid. You are far more precious than many sparrows.

You Must Acknowledge Yeshua Publicly!

8 I tell you that everyone who acknowledges Me in public, the Human Son will also acknowledge before Yehovah’s messengers. 9 But anyone who rejects Me publicly will be rejected before Yehovah’s messengers. 10 Anyone who speaks a word against the Human Son can have it disregarded, but anyone who blasphemes the 'special' spirit won’t have their sin disregarded.

11 When they put you on trial in the synagogues before leaders and top magistrates, don’t worry about how you’ll defend yourself, or what you’ll say, 12 because the 'special' spirit will instruct you about what you need to say at that very moment.”

The Rich Man Dies With His Stuff

13 Someone at the gathering asked Him, “Master, tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance.” 14 But Yeshua replied, “Man, who made Me your judge or arbitrator?” 15 He told His disciples, “Be on your guard against any kind of greed, because life isn’t about having lots of things.”

16 He gave them another analogy. “The land of a rich man was quite productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have enough room to store all of my crops?’ 18 He thought, ‘This is what I’ll do, I’ll tear down my storehouses and rebuild them larger, and I’ll store all my grain and my goods there.’ 19 Then I’ll say to myself, ‘I have accumulated enough goods to last for many years. I’ll take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry.’

20 But Yehovah told him, ‘You ignorant man! Tonight your life [psyche, Gr: psuche] will be demanded back. Now who will get all your things?’

21 This is what awaits anyone who accumulates wealth for himself, but doesn’t have riches with Yehovah.”

No Worries

22 He told His disciples, “So I tell you not to worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll wear on your body. 23 Life is far superior to food, and the body is superior to clothing. 24 Consider the ravens. They don’t sow or harvest or have cellars and storehouses, yet Yehovah feeds them. How much more important are you than birds!

25 Which of you can add a cubit to your height by worrying? 26 If you can’t control the least of things, why are you worried about the rest?

27 Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t work and they don’t spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 28 If Yehovah clothes the vegetation in the fields that’s thrown into an oven tomorrow, how much more will He care for you, you with little faith? 29 Don’t ask what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or worry about those things. 30 Everyone on earth is preoccupied with those things, and your Father knows that you need these things too. 31 But strive for the Kingdom of Yehovah and all of these things will be given to you as well.

32 Don’t be afraid little flock, because your Father is delighted to give you the Kingdom. 33 Sell your property and give to those in need. Make yourselves moneybags that will never wear out, and an inexhaustible treasure in Heaven where no thief can get near it or any moth can eat it. 34 Your treasure is in your mind!

Two Very Different Servants

35 Be dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. 36 Be like people who expect their master to return, so that when he returns from the wedding festivity [1], and he comes and knocks, they’ll open the door for him immediately. 37 The master’s servants will be blessed when he comes, and he finds them still awake. It’s certain he’ll dress himself for service, but have them lean back at the table, and ‘he’ll’ come over and serve them! 38 Whether in the second watch, or in the third, when he comes and finds them still awake, those servants will be blessed. 39 But be sure of this, if the owner of the house had known the exact watch when the thief was coming, he would have been awake and wouldn’t have allowed his house to be broken into. 40 So be ready, because the Human Son will return at a time when you’re not expecting Him.”

41 Simon Cephas asked, “Master, are you giving this analogy to us or to everyone?” 42 Yeshua replied, “So who is the faithful and wise manager, that the master will put in charge of his entire household, giving them their fair share of food at the right time? 43 The master’s servants will be blessed when he comes and he finds them still serving! 44 I tell you with absolute certainty that he will put him in charge of everything he owns. 45 But if the head servant thinks to himself, ‘My master is postponing his return’, and starts beating the men and women servants and starts wining and dining and getting drunk, 46 that servant’s master will come on a day when he isn’t expecting him, and at a time of day when he doesn’t suspect, and will cut him in two, and make him share the lot of the unfaithful.

47 The servant who knew what his master wanted, but wouldn’t do what he was instructed will be beaten with many stripes, 48 while the person who did something deserving stripes in ignorance will be beaten with fewer stripes. Much is required of anyone who is given much, and much is expected from anyone who has been entrusted with much.

I came to set the earth on fire!

49 I came to ‘rain’ fire on the earth, and I wish the burning had already begun! 50 I have an immersed to ‘undergo’, and I’ll be very distressed until it’s finished. 51 Do you think I came to bring world peace? No, I tell you that I came to cause separation! 52 From this time on there will be five people in one house who will be in opposition, three against two, and two against three. 53 A father will be opposed to his son and a son opposed to his father, a mother opposed to her daughter and a daughter opposed to her mother, a mother-in-law opposed to her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law opposed to her mother-in-law.”

Discerning the Time

54 He said to the crowd, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘Rain is coming’, and it happens. 55 When a south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot’, and so it is. 56 You pretenders! You know how to analyze the signs in the sky and on the earth, but why can’t you analyze the present time? 57 Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?

Make Peace

58 When you go with your adversary to a magistrate, while on the way, try to negotiate with him, otherwise he will bring you to a judge, and the judge might hand you over to jailer, and the jailer could throw you in prison. 59 I tell you, you won’t get out of there until you pay the very last shomona.”

Luke 13: At that time, someone came and told Him about some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their ze’bakim [sacrifices]”. 2 Yeshua replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because this happened to them? 3 No, but I assure you that you will all be destroyed as well, unless you amend your ways. 4 Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed, do you think that they were worse sinners than anyone else living in Jerusalem? 5 No, but I assure you that unless you amend your ways you’ll also be destroyed.”

The Barren Fig Tree

6 He also gave this analogy: “A man had a fig tree growing in his orchard and he came looking for fruit on it, but didn’t find any. 7 So he said to the farm worker, ‘Look, for three years I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I never find any. Cut it down. Why should it waste precious ground?’

8 The farm worker told the owner, ‘Master, why not leave it alone for one more year, I’ll ‘till’ around it, and manure it. 9 If it bears fruit, fine. If not then I will cut it down?’”

Healing on the Sabbath

10 As Yeshua was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 there was a woman there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t straighten herself up at all. 12 Yeshua saw her, and called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your illness.” 13 He put His hand on her, and immediately she stood up straight and praised Yehovah.

14 The leader of the synagogue was indignant that Yeshua had healed on the Sabbath, so he told the crowd, “There are six days when it is permissible to work, come on those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath day.”

15 But Yeshua replied, “You hypocrite! doesn’t every one of you untie your ox or your donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead it to water? 16 Shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham who Satan has bound for eighteen long years, be set free from what binds her on the Sabbath day?

17 After He said that, all His adversaries were put to shame, and everyone else was delighted with all the miracles that ‘He was doing’.

18 Then Yeshua asked, “What is the Kingdom of Yehovah like? What can I compare it to? 19 It’s like the tiny seed of the mustard herb that someone took and tossed in their garden. It grew and became a large tree [1], and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.” 20 Yeshua asked again, “What can I compare the Kingdom of Yehovah to? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three seahs of meal until it was entirely leavened.”

Judgment Day for the Wicked

22 He traveled thru the villages and towns teaching as He headed toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked Him whether only a few would Live eternally. 24 Yeshua replied, “Strive to enter by the narrow gate. I assure you that many will try to enter, but won’t be able to. 25 Once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, you’ll stand outside knocking on the door and you’ll be saying, ‘Master, Master, open the door for us’, and He’ll reply, ‘I don’t know who you are or where you are from.’ 26 Then you’ll say, ‘We ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 He’ll reply, ‘I don’t know who you are or where you are from. Leave Me you perpetrators of evil.’ 28 There will be crying and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of Yehovah, but yourselves being thrown out.

Second Exodus and Resurrection

29 People will come from east and west, and from south and north and take their places in the Kingdom of Yehovah. [2] 30 Yes, some who are last will be first in influence, and some who are first will be last.”

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

31 Later that day some of the Pharisees came and told Him, “Get out of here, because Herod wants to kill You.” 32 Yeshua told them, “Go tell that fox that I’ll be casting out demons and healing today and tomorrow, and on the third day My work will be finished. 33 But I must work [3] today and tomorrow, and the next day I will leave [4], because it is inconceivable for a prophet to die outside of Jerusalem. 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you murder the prophets and stone those who have been sent to you! How often I’ve longed to gather your children like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you weren’t willing! 35 Look, your house is abandoned. And I’m absolutely certain that you won’t see Me again until you’re saying, ‘Blessed is the One who is coming in the name of Yehovah.’”

Luke 14: Later He went into the house of one of the leading Pharisees for a meal on the Sabbath day. They were watching Him closely. 2 In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Yeshua asked the Torah teachers and Pharisees, “Is it Lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4 But they remained silent. So He took hold of the man, healed him and sent him on his way.

5 He asked them, “If your son or your ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, wouldn’t you pull him out immediately?” 6 They couldn’t give Him an answer to that.

7 When He noticed that they were choosing the best seating at the tables, He gave an analogy to the guests who were present: 8 “When you are invited by someone to a banquet hall, don’t take the best seating. Perhaps someone more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 Then the person who invited you will come and say ‘Give your place to this person.’ Then you’ll be embarrassed as you’re getting up and finding other seating. 10 But when you get an invitation, go and choose the least desirable seating, so that when the host arrives he’ll tell you, ‘Friend, please take the best seating.’ Then you’ll be honored in front of everyone around you. 11 People seeking honors for themselves will be humbled, and people who humble themselves will be honored.”

12 He told the host, “When you have a breakfast or a supper, don’t always invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, because they’ll reciprocate, and you’ll be compensated. 13 But when you have a banquet, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then you’ll be blessed because they can’t repay you. You’ll be repaid at the Resurrection of the Righteous.

The Great Supper

15 Then someone at the table heard these things and told Him, “Blessed is the everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of Yehovah.” 16 Yeshua replied, “A man once gave a large banquet and invited many guests. 17 When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to remind those who were invited, ‘Come, everything is ready for you!’

18 To a man they all began to make excuses. The first told him, ‘I bought a field and I need to go out and see it. I ask that you allow me to be excused.’

19 Another said, ‘I just bought five pairs of oxen. I’m on my way to try them out. I ask that you please excuse me.’

20 Another said, ‘I’m a newly wed, so I can’t come.’

21 The servant came back and told these things to his master. Then the master of the house got angry and he told his servant, ‘Go quickly into the market places and the streets of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’ 22 The servant said, ‘Master, your order has been done, and there is still room.’

23 Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out into the streets and beat the bushes, and urge them to come in so that my house will be filled.’ 24 I’m certain that not one of those men who were invited will sample My banquet.”

Be Willing to Leave it all Behind

25 A large crowd was traveling with him. He turned and told them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me who is unwilling to put aside [1] their father and mother, or their brothers or their sisters, or their wife and children, or even their own life, they can’t be My disciple. 27 Anyone who doesn’t carry their own cross and follow Me can’t be My disciple.

28 Which of you planning to build a tower wouldn’t first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have the means to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when the foundation is laid, but you are unable to finish it. Everyone who sees it will laugh at you 30 and say, ‘This person began construction and couldn’t afford to finish it.’

31 Or what king intent on going to war with the neighboring king doesn’t first consider whether his ten thousand soldiers can defeat the man who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, while he is still far away, he would send envoys and negotiate for peace. 33 So no one who couldn’t abandon their possessions can be My disciple.

34 Salt is a good thing, but if the salt has deteriorated, how could it be used as seasoning? 35 It isn’t fit for the soil or the manure pile. They must throw it away. Anyone who has ears should listen.”

Luke 15: Many tax extractors and notorious sinners came to listen to Him. 2 The Torah teachers and Pharisees muttered things like, “This Man associates with sinners and even eats with them.”

3 Yeshua gave them this analogy: 4 “Which of you men who has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, wouldn’t leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go and search for the one that got lost until he finds it? 5 When he finds it, he’s delighted, and he puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home and calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Celebrate with me, because I found my lost sheep.’ 7 I assure you that there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who amends his ways than over ninety nine righteous people who don’t need to amend their ways.

Analogy of the Lost Coin

8 Or suppose a woman has ten drachmas [silver coins], and loses one of them. Wouldn’t she light a lamp and sweep the house and carefully search for it until she finds it? 9 When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors over and says, ‘Celebrate with me, because I found my lost drachma.’ 10 I can tell you that there will be this kind of joy among the messengers of Yehovah when a sinner amends their ways.”

Analogy of the Lost Son

11 Then Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. 12 His younger son told him, ‘Father, give me my share of your estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 After a few days, the younger son got his things together and went to a distant country where he squandered his property by extravagant living. 14 After he had squandered everything he had, there was a severe famine in that country and he began to go hungry. 15 He contracted a job with one of the local residents who sent him into the field to tend swine. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him any.

17 When he came to ‘his senses’ he thought, ‘How many hired servants are in my father’s house right now who have plenty of food, while I’m here starving to death!’ 18 I’ll get up and go to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your presence, 19 and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Hire me as one of your servants.’ 20 So he got up and headed toward his father. While he was at a considerable distance, his father saw him, and out of compassion ran toward him, grabbed him and kissed him.

21 His son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your presence and don’t deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But his father said to his servants, ‘Bring my best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and give him some sandals. 23 Bring the biggest bullock and slaughter it. Let’s eat and celebrate. 24 My son was dead and has come to life again, he was lost but has been found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 But his older son had been in the field, and as he approached the house he heard the voices of many people singing [1]. 26 So he called to one of the boys and asked him what was going on. 27 He said, ‘Your brother is back, and your father has killed the biggest bullock, because he has come home safe and sound.’

28 Then he got mad and wouldn’t go inside, so his father went out and began pleading with him. 29 He told his father, ‘I’ve been serving you for many years, never disobeying your commands, but you never gave me so much as a kid goat to celebrate with my friends! 30 But when this son of yours finished squandering your wealth on prostitutes, and came home, you slaughtered the largest bullock for him.’ 31 His father told him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But celebrating and rejoicing is the right thing to do, because your brother was dead and is now alive, he was lost and has been found.’”

Luke 16: He gave an analogy to His disciples: “There was a rich man who had a manager, and accusations were being made that he was embezzling his property. 2 His superior [Gr. kurios] called him and asked him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Make me a final accounting of your management, you can no longer be my manager.’

3 The manager thought to himself, ‘What can I do since my superior is about to take away my management position? I’m unable to dig, and ashamed to become a beggar. 4 I know what to do to ensure that when I’m removed from management I’ll be welcomed into other homes.’

5 So he called each of his superior’s debtors and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my superior?’ 6 He told him, ‘One hundred measures of oil.’ So he told him, ‘‘Sit down quickly with your bill and write fifty measures.’ 7 He asked another, ‘How much do you owe my superior?’ He told him, ‘One hundred cors of wheat.’ So he told him, ‘Sit down quickly [1] with your bill and write eighty cors.’

8 His superior commended the dishonest manager for having acted shrewdly, because our contemporaries in this age are shrewder than the enlightened people. 9 So I tell you, make friends using this unrighteous wealth so that ‘in the end’, they can welcome you into everlasting homes. [Commentary]

10 A person who is responsible with a little will also be responsible with much, and the person who is dishonest with a little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you haven’t been trustworthy with unrighteous wealth, who would trust you with true wealth? 12 If you haven’t been trustworthy with something that isn’t yours, who would give you something of your own?

13 No servant can serve two masters, because they’ll either hate the one and love the other, or they’ll honor the one and despise the other. You can’t serve both Yehovah and wealth.”

The Torah, the Prophets & the Kingdom

14 When the Pharisees heard all of these things, they ridiculed Him because they loved money. 15 Yeshua told them, “People like you appear to be righteous to others, but Yehovah knows your minds. The things that are highly valued by people are idolatrous abominations to Yehovah.

16 The Torah and the Prophets were everything until John, since then, the Good News of the Kingdom of Yehovah has been proclaimed, and all kinds of people are pressing to enter in. 17 It is easier for Heaven and earth to pass by than for one serif from the Torah to fall [or perish, i.e come to an end, disappear, cease].

18 Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Lazarus and Judgment Day

19 There was a rich man who dressed himself in fine linen and scarlet, who spent every day basking in luxury. 20 And there was a poor man named Lazarus [2] who was laid by the gate of the rich man, covered with sores. 21 He wanted to fill his belly with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs used to come and lick his sores.

22 Eventually the poor man died and spirit messengers transported him to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 Being tormented in sheol, he looked and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and moisten my tongue, because I’m suffering greatly in these flames.

25 But Abraham replied, “My son, remember that you received your good things during your lifetime, and Lazarus had bad things. But now he is being comforted and you are suffering. 26 And besides, there is a vast chasm set up between us and you, so that anyone who might want to cross from here to you can’t, nor can anyone cross from there to us.

27 He said, “Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28 because I have five brothers. Have him go and warn them, so that they don’t also end up in this place of torment.”

29 Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets, they should listen to them.” 30 But he pleaded, “No, father Abraham, but if someone were to go to them from the dead, they’d change their ways!” 31 Abraham told him, “If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they wouldn’t [didn’t] believe even if someone were to rise from the dead!”

Luke 17: Yeshua told His disciples, “It is inevitable that scandalous offenses [Gr. skandalon] will occur, but I pity the person who causes them. 2 It would be better for them to be plunged in the depths of the sea with an ass powered millstone hung around their neck, than for them to trip up one of these little ones! 3 You should pay attention! If your brother wrongs you, reprimand him, and if he changes his ways, disregard [1] the sins. 4 If you are wronged seven times in a day, and then seven times that day they come to you and say, “I want to change my ways, then acquit them” [1].

Faith and Duty

5 The envoys said to the Master, “Give us more faith.” 6 He replied, ‘“If you had faith like a tiny mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be ripped out by the roots and plant yourself in the sea’, and it would obey you. 7 Would any of you who has a servant driving a team of oxen or tending sheep, tell him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come in right away and sit down for supper?’ 8 He would actually tell him, ‘Make me something to eat, get dressed and wait on me until I’m finished eating and drinking, then later you can eat and drink?’ 9 Does he thank the servant for doing his job? I don’t think so. 10 In the same way, when you have done everything you are ordered to do, you can say, ‘We aren’t very profitable servants, because we’ve only done our duty.’”

Ten Lepers Cleansed

11 As Yeshua was on His way to Jerusalem, He traveled between Samaria and Galilee. 12 When He approached a village, ten leprous men met Him, standing at a distance, 13 and they shouted out, “Master, Yeshua, have mercy on us.”

14 When He saw them, He told them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were cleansed.

15 When one of them saw that he was cleansed, he turned back, loudly praising Yehovah. 16 He fell face down at Yeshua’s feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Yeshua asked, “Werent there ten men cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Have they all left without returning to praise Yehovah, except for this foreigner?” 19 He told him, “Get up and go, your faith has given you Life!”

The Coming Kingdom

20 When some Pharisees asked Him when the Kingdom of Yehovah was coming, He told them, “The Kingdom of Yehovah has not come visibly” [2]. 21 People won’t be saying, “Look, here it is!” or, “Look, there it is”, because the Kingdom of Yehovah is among you!

22 He told His disciples, “There will come a time when you’ll long to see a single day of the Human Son, but you won’t see one. 23 If they tell you, ‘Look, here He is!’ or ‘He is over there’, don’t follow them! 24 Just like lightning flashing in one part of the sky lights up the entire sky, so will the Human Son be in His day. 25 But first, He must endure a great deal of suffering and be rejected by this nation [or generation].

26 Just like it was in the time of Noah, that is how it will be in the days of the Human Son. 27 They ate and drank, they ‘married’ wives, and were ‘marrying’ husbands until the day that Noah entered the ark, then the flood came and destroyed everyone.

28 Again, just like it was in the days of Lot, they ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built. 29 But on the day that Lot left Sodom, Yehovah caused fire and sulfur to rain from the sky and destroyed them all.

30 This is exactly how it will it be on the day when the Human Son is revealed. 31 When that day comes, anyone who is on a house top must not come down to get their things out of the house, and anyone who is in the field must not return home. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Anyone who tries to save their life will lose it, and anyone who is willing to lose their life will rescue it. 34 I tell you, on that night, two will be in the same bed, one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. 37 They asked Him, ‘Where, Master?’ He told them, “Where the corpse [or body] is, that’s where the vultures [or eagles] will gather together.”

 

The Testimony of Yeshua was tweaked January 6, 2012