1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks of temptation will most certainly come, but how great the calamity that awaits the person through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were tied around his neck and he were flung into the sea than for him to cause one of these humble folk to stumble in sin. 3 Watch yourselves! If ˢyour brother sins, reprove him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against ˢyou seven times in one day and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ ˢyou must forgive him.”

5 “Increase our faith!” the apostles said to the Lord.

6 “If ᵖyou had faith even as small as a mustard seed,” the Lord answered, “ᵖyou could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would surely obey you.

7 “Now suppose one of you has a slave out plowing or tending the sheep. Would he say to the slave when he comes back in from the field, ‘Come here at once and recline at the table for a meal’? 8 No, he will tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and after you’ve gotten yourself ready, continue serving me until I have finished the full meal. ˢYou may eat and drink afterward.’ 9 He doesn’t give the slave special thanks for obeying orders, does he? Of course not. 10 In the same way, ᵖyou, too, when you have done everything you were ordered to do, are to say, ‘We are mere slaves, undeserving of any special praise. We’ve done nothing more than what we ought to have done.’ ”

11 Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was traveling through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was about to enter a certain village, he was met by ten men who were suffering from leprosy, who stopped at a distance. 13 They shouted, “Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!” 14 When Jesus saw the men, he said to them, “Go and have the priests examine ᵖyou.” And while they were on their way, they were healed and made clean.

15 Now one of the men, when he saw that he was healed, came back praising God in a very loud voice. 16 He threw himself facedown at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. The man was a Samaritan.

17 In response Jesus said, “It was ten men who were healed, wasn’t it? The other nine, where are they? 18 Why did no one return to give glory to God except this man who isn’t an Israelite?” 19 Then he said to the man, “To your feet, ˢyou may go. This faith of ˢyours has healed you.”

20 Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was going to come, he answered with something very significant: The Kingdom of God is not going to come when people are watching carefully for it, 21 nor will people say, ‘Look, it’s over here!’ or ‘There it is!’ The Kingdom of God, you see, is going to appear in the midst of ᵖyou.”

22 Then he said to the disciples, “The time will come when ᵖyou will long to witness the beginning of the glorious reign of the Son of Man, but will not witness it. 23 People will say to ᵖyou, ‘Look! There he is!’ or ‘Look! He is over here!’ ᵖDon’t go out or run after them. 24 As when lightning, flashing from one region under the sky, shines light indeed to another region under the sky, you see, this is how the Son of Man will come in his time. 25 Yet it is God’s will for him, first, to suffer many, many things, and to be ‘examined and rejected as worthless’+ by this generation. 26 And just as it was in the time of Noah, this is how it will be in the time of the Son of Man. 27 People were simply enjoying life, they were marrying, daughters were being given in marriage, right up to the day Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It will be the same as it was in the time of Lot. People were simply enjoying life, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. 29 On the day Lot left Sodom, however, fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and destroyed them all. 30 That is precisely how it will be at the time when the Son of Man is about to be revealed. 31 At that time, if someone happens to be on the roof of his house, with his belongings in the house, he must not come down to gather them. Similarly, if someone happens to be out in his field, he must not turn back ‘toward the things behind.’+ 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 If someone tries to preserve his life, he will lose it. If someone is prepared to lose his life, however, he will keep it. 34 I tell ᵖyou this: On that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together at the same spot; one will be taken, and the other will be left.”+

37 In response the disciples asked him, “Where, Lord?”

“Where there is a dead body,” Jesus replied, “there the vultures, too, will themselves be gathered together.”