luke

¹⁴Luke, a most beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas.

¹Then, after these things, the Lord also designated another seventy-two. And he sent them in pairs before his face, into every city and place where he was to arrive. ²And he said to them: “Certainly the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest. ³Go forth. Behold, I send you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴Do not choose to carry a purse, nor provisions, nor shoes; and you shall greet no one along the way. ⁵Into whatever house you will have entered, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.

¹Now it happened that, when the crowds pressed toward him, so that they might hear the word of God, he was standing beside the lake of Genesaret. ²And he saw two boats standing beside the lake. But the fishermen had climbed down, and they were washing their nets. ³And so, climbing into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, he asked him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting down, he taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴Then, when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Lead us into deep water, and release your nets for a catch.” ⁵And in response, Simon said to him: “Teacher, working throughout the night, we caught nothing. But on your word, I will release the net.” ⁶And when they had done this, they enclosed such a copious multitude of fish that their net was rupturing.

³³Whoever has sought to save his life, will lose it; and whoever has lost it, will bring it back to life.

¹⁸And he said to them: “I was watching as Satan fell like lightning from heaven.

¹²For the Holy Spirit will teach you, in the same hour, what you must say.”

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure, pressed down and shaken together and overflowing, they will place upon your lap. Certainly, the same measure that you use to measure out, will be used to measure back to you again.”

²⁴and Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my helpers.

¹Now tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to him, so that they might listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This one accepts sinners and eats with them.” ³And he told this parable to them, saying: ⁴“What man among you, who has one hundred sheep, and if he will have lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the one whom he had lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: ‘Congratulate me! For I have found my sheep, which had been lost.’

¹Since, indeed, many have attempted to set in order a narrative of the things that have been completed among us, ²just as they have been handed on to those of us who from the beginning saw the same and were ministers of the word, ³so it seemed good to me also, having diligently followed everything from the beginning, to write to you, in an orderly manner, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴so that you might know the truthfulness of those words by which you have been instructed. ⁵There was, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah, of the section of Abijah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶Now they were both just before God, progressing in all of the commandments and the justifications of the Lord without blame.

³⁷And as he was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked him to eat with him. And going inside, he sat down to eat. ³⁸But the Pharisee began to say, thinking within himself: “Why might it be that he has not washed before eating?” ³⁹And the Lord said to him: “You Pharisees today clean what is outside the cup and the plate, but what is inside of you is full of plunder and iniquity. ⁴⁰Fools! Did not he who made what is outside, indeed also make what is inside? ⁴¹Yet truly, give what is above as alms, and behold, all things are clean for you. ⁴²But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you ignore judgment and the charity of God. But these things you ought to have done, without omitting the others.

¹Certainly, O Theophilus, I composed the first discourse about everything that Jesus began to do and to teach,

¹¹Luke alone is with me. Take Mark and bring him with you; for he is useful to me in the ministry.