The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 He said to his disciples, "Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on!
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One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!
2 Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!
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It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.
3 "Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him.
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So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.
4 Even if it's personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, 'I'm sorry, I won't do it again,' forgive him."
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Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
5 The apostles came up and said to the Master, "Give us more faith."
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The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
6 But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it.
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The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
7 "Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, 'Sit down and eat'?
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“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’?
8 Wouldn't you be more likely to say, 'Prepare dinner; change your clothes and wait table for me until I've finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper'?
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No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’
9 Does the servant get special thanks for doing what's expected of him?
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And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.
10 It's the same with you. When you've done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, 'The work is done. What we were told to do, we did.'"
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In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
11 It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee.
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As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.
12 As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance
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As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance,
13 but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
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crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."
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He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God.
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One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”
16 He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough - and he was a Samaritan.
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He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine?
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Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
18 Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?"
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Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
19 Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you."
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And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you. ”
20 Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, "The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar.
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One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs.
21 Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you."
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You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. ”
22 He went on to say to his disciples, "The days are coming when you are going to be desperately homesick for just a glimpse of one of the days of the Son of Man, and you won't see a thing.
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Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it.
23 And they'll say to you, 'Look over there!' or, 'Look here!' Don't fall for any of that nonsense.
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People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them.
24 The arrival of the Son of Man is not something you go out to see. He simply comes.
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For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.
25 But first it's necessary that he suffer many things and be turned down by the people of today.
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But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.
26 "The time of the Son of Man will be just like the time of Noah -
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“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.
27 everyone carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ship. They suspected nothing until the flood hit and swept everything away.
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In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 "It was the same in the time of Lot - the people carrying on, having a good time, business as usual
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“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—
29 right up to the day Lot walked out of Sodom and a firestorm swept down and burned everything to a crisp.
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until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 That's how it will be - sudden, total - when the Son of Man is revealed.
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Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 "When the Day arrives and you're out working in the yard, don't run into the house to get anything. And if you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat.
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On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home.
32 Remember what happened to Lot's wife!
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Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
33 If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.
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If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
34 "On that Day, two men will be in the same boat fishing - one taken, the other left.
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That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.
35 Two women will be working in the same kitchen - one taken, the other left."
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Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. ”
37 Trying to take all this in, the disciples said, "Master, where?" He told them, "Watch for the circling of the vultures. They'll spot the corpse first. The action will begin around my dead body."
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“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked. Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.