Chapter 7

¹When he had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum.

²A Roman captain had a slave whom he thought a great deal of, and the slave was sick and at the point of death. ³When the captain heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, to ask him to come and save his slave’s life. ⁴And they went to Jesus and urged him strongly to do it, and said,

“He deserves to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

⁶So Jesus went with them. But when he was not far from the house, the captain sent some friends to him, to say to him,

“Master, do not take any more trouble, for I am not a suitable person to have you under my roof. ⁷That is why I did not think I was fit to come to you. But simply say the word, and have my servant cured. ⁸For I am myself under the orders of others, and I have soldiers under me, and I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes, and my slave to do something, and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was astonished at him, and turning to the crowd that was following him, he said,

“I tell you, I have not found such faith as this even in Israel!”

¹⁰And when the messengers went back to the house, they found the slave well.

¹¹Soon afterward he happened to go to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great throng of people were with him. ¹²As he came up to the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out; he was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A crowd of the townspeople was with her. ¹³And when the Master saw her, he pitied her, and said to her,

“Do not weep.”

¹⁴And he went up and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said,

“Young man, I tell you, wake up!”

¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶And they were all overcome with awe, and they praised God, and said,

“A great prophet has appeared among us!” and “God has not forgotten his people!”

¹⁷This story about him spread all over Judea and the surrounding country.

¹⁸John’s disciples told him of all this, ¹⁹and he called two of them to him, and sent them to the Master to ask him,

“Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

²⁰And the men went to him and said,

“John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’ ”

²¹Just then he cured many of diseases and ailments and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many who were blind. ²²And he answered them,

“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind are regaining their sight, the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor. ²³And blessed is the man who finds nothing that repels him in me.”

²⁴When John’s messengers were gone, he began to speak to the crowds about John.

“What was it that you went out into the desert to look at? A reed swaying in the wind? ²⁵Then what did you go out there to see? A man luxuriously dressed? Men who wear fine clothes and live in luxury you find in palaces. ²⁶Then what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet! ²⁷This is the man of whom the Scripture says,

“ ‘Here I send my messenger on before you,

He will prepare the road ahead of you!’

²⁸“I tell you, among men born of women there is none greater than John; and yet those who are of little importance in the Kingdom of God are greater than he. ²⁹And all the people, even the tax-collectors, when they heard him, acknowledged the justice of God’s demands, by accepting baptism from John, ³⁰but the Pharisees and experts in the Law thwarted God’s purpose for themselves, by refusing to be baptized by him. ³¹So what is there to which I can compare the men of this age? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting about in the bazaar and calling out to one another,

“ ‘We have played the flute for you, and you would not dance!

We have wailed and you would not weep!’

³³“For when John the Baptist came, he did not eat any bread or drink any wine, and you said, ‘He has a demon!’ ³⁴Now that the Son of Man has come, he does eat and drink, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drinker, the companion of tax-collectors and irreligious people!’ ³⁵So wisdom is vindicated by all who are really wise.”

³⁶One of the Pharisees asked him to have dinner with him, and he went to the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ³⁷Now there was a woman in the town who was leading a sinful life, and when she learned that he was having dinner at the Pharisee’s house, she got an alabaster flask of perfume, ³⁸and came and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with her hair, and kissed them, and put the perfume on them. ³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself,

“If this man were really a prophet, he would know who and what the woman is who is touching him, for she leads a wicked life.”

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, and said to him,

“Simon, there is something I want to say to you.”

He said,

“Proceed, Master.”

⁴¹“Two men were in debt to a money-lender. One owed him a hundred dollars and the other ten. ⁴²As they could not pay him, he canceled what they owed him. Now which of them will be more attached to him?”

⁴³Simon answered,

“The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled most.”

“You are right,” he said. ⁴⁴And turning to the woman, he said to Simon,

“Do you see this woman? I came to your house; you did not give me any water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but from the moment I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not put any oil upon my head, but she has put perfume upon my feet. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the man with little to be forgiven loves me but little.”

⁴⁸And he said to her,

“Your sins are forgiven!”

⁴⁹The men at table with him began to say to themselves,

“Who is this man, who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰But he said to the woman,

“It is your faith that has saved you. Go in peace.”