49 " I came to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish that it was already ablaze!
50
I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it's completed!
51
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have come instead to bring division.
52
From now on, a household of five will be divided—three against two and two against three.
53
Father will square off against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
Learning and practicing good judgment
54 Jesus also said to the crowds, " When you see a cloud forming in the west, you immediately say, ‘It's going to rain.' And indeed it does.
55
And when a south wind blows, you say, ‘A heat wave is coming.' And it does.
56
Hypocrites! You know how to interpret conditions on earth and in the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret the present time?
57
And why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?
58
As you are going to court with your accuser, make your best effort to reach a settlement along the way. Otherwise, your accuser may bring you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.
59
I tell you, you won't get out of there until you have paid the very last cent."