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.”+