New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum.
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When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum.
2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death.
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A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him.
3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave.
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When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant.
4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said,
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They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves this.
5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”
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He loves our people. He even built our meeting place."
6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor.
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Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for you to come to my house,
7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.
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even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well.
8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
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I'm a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; another, 'Come,' and he comes; my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”
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Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works."
10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.
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When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.
11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him.
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Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd.
12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her.
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As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession - a woman's only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow.
13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said.
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When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, "Don't cry."
14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.”
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Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, "Young man, I tell you: Get up."
15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
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The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother.
16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.”
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They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful - and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!"
17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.
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The news of Jesus spread all through the country.
18 The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples,
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John's disciples reported back to him the news of all these events taking place.
19 and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
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He sent two of them to the Master to ask the question, "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?"
20 John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”
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The men showed up before Jesus and said, "John the Baptizer sent us to ask you, 'Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?'"
21 At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind.
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In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight.
22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.
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Then he gave his answer: "Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth have God's salvation hospitality extended to them.
23 And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me. ’”
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"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!"
24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?
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After John's messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. "What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper?
25 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces.
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Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot.
26 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
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What then? A messenger from God? That's right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you'll ever hear.
27 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’
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He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote, I'm sending my messenger on ahead To make the road smooth for you.
28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”
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"Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him.
29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John.
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The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence;
30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.
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the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn't think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.
31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them?
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"How can I account for the people of this generation?
32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’
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They're like spoiled children complaining to their parents, 'We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.'
33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
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John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy.
34 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’
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The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a lush.
35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it. ”
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Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Anointing His Feet
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.
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One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table.
37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
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Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume
38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
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and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
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When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
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Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Oh? Tell me."
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other.
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"Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty.
42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
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Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?"
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said.
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Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."
44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
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Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair.
45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.
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You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet.
46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
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You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
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Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
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Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins."
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
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That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!"
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
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.
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.