Gospel according to Luke 7

¹ When he had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum.

² A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death.

³ Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant.

⁴ When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said

⁵ ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’

⁶ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof;

⁷ and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured.

⁸ For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’

⁹ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this’.

¹⁰ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.

¹¹ Now soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people.

¹² When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her.

¹³ When the Lord[*a] saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said.

¹⁴ Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up’.

¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother[*b]

¹⁶ Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people’.

¹⁷ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.

¹⁸ The disciples of John gave him all this news, and John, summoning two of his disciples,

¹⁹ sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?’

²⁰ When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or have we to wait for someone else?”‘

²¹ lt was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind.

²² Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor

²³ and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me’.

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone he began to talk to the people about John,

²⁵ ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Oh no, those who go in for fine clothes and live luxuriously are to be found at court!

²⁶ Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet:

²⁷ he is the one of whom scripture says: See, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare the way before you.[*c]

²⁸ ‘I tell you, of all the children born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is’.

²⁹ All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God’s plan by accepting baptism from John;

³⁰ but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.

³¹ ‘What description, then, can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like?

³² They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market place: “We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry”.

³³ ‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed”.

³⁴ The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners”.

³⁵ Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’

³⁶ One of the Pharisees invited him to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house and took his place at table,

³⁷ a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment.

³⁸ She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him and what a bad name she has’.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus took him up and said, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you’. ‘Speak, Master’ was the reply.

⁴¹ ‘There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty.

⁴² They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?’

⁴³ ‘The one who was pardoned more, I suppose’ answered Simon. Jesus said, ‘You are right’.

⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman. ‘Simon,’ he said ‘you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair.

⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in.

⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

⁴⁷ For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love.’

⁴⁸ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’.

⁴⁹ Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man, that he even forgives sins?’

⁵⁰ But he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace’.