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Luke 9:46-62
New American Standard Bible
Luke 9:46-62
New American Standard Bible
The Test of Greatness
46 (A)Now an argument [a]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, (B)knowing [b]what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, 48 and He said to them, “(C)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; (D)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”
49 (E)John answered and said, “(F)Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; (G)for the one who is not against you is [c]for you.”
51 When the days were approaching for (H)His [d]ascension, He [e]was determined (I)to go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the (J)Samaritans to [f]make arrangements for Him. 53 And they did not receive Him, (K)because [g]He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples (L)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to (M)command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them.[h] 56 And they went on to another village.
Exacting Discipleship
57 (N)As they were going on the road, (O)someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but (P)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “(Q)Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and (R)proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but (S)first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “(T)No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 9:46 Lit entered
- Luke 9:47 Lit the reasoning; or argument
- Luke 9:50 Or on your side
- Luke 9:51 Lit taking up
- Luke 9:51 Lit set His face
- Luke 9:52 Or prepare
- Luke 9:53 Lit His face was proceeding toward
- Luke 9:55 Some late mss add: and said, “You do not know of what kind of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them.”
Luke 9:46-62
New International Version
Luke 9:46-62
New International Version
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.(A) 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts,(B) took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.(C) For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”(D)
49 “Master,”(E) said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”(F)
Samaritan Opposition
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,(G) Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.(H) 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan(I) village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John(J) saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?”(K) 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus(L)
57 As they were walking along the road,(M) a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(N) has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”(O)
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”(P)
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”(Q)
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Footnotes
- Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts them, just as Elijah did
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.