1 At that time a great number of people gathered around Jesus. There were so many that they were crowding close and treading on each other. And Jesus spoke to his disciples and said, “The Pharisees want other people to say, ‘Those Pharisees are good people.’ But they are wicked and they hide their thoughts from other people. So don't you be like those men, 2 because anything that is hidden today will be made clear later. 3 All the words you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daytime. And all the words you have spoken secretly inside a house will be heard clearly, just as though you had called out loud.

4 “I tell you, my friends,” Jesus said, “don't be afraid of people who make trouble for you. Maybe they will kill you. But when they kill your body and you die, there is nothing else they can do to hurt you. 5 But I will show you the person who should make you really afraid. You should be afraid of God, because he is very powerful. If he wants to he can kill you and your body will die, and he can also throw your spirit into hell. If he does that, you will stay there forever. Yes, I am warning you. He is the one you should be afraid of, because he is so powerful.”

6 Then Jesus went on to say, “God is powerful and he will look after you. Maybe one of you will buy five little birds for only a few cents. But God looks after every one of the birds. He doesn't forget any; he doesn't miss seeing even one, and he keeps on looking after them. 7 God looks after the little birds, and he will look after you too, and he won't forget you. He even knows about your hair. He has already counted it all and he knows! So don't be afraid, because God takes care of the little birds, and he takes care of you even more. He looks after you because you belong to him.”

8 Then Jesus said, “If one of you says to other people, ‘I belong to Jesus Christ,’ then I, who was born in this place, will say, ‘This man belongs to me.’ I will speak so that God's angels can hear in heaven.

9 “But if one of you says to others, ‘I don't know Jesus Christ,’ when you deny me like that I will say, ‘I don't know that man, he doesn't belong to me.’ I will say it so that God's angels can hear in heaven.

10 “If any of you speak bad words about me, the one who was born in this place, God will forgive you. But if you speak bad words about God's Holy Spirit, then God won't forgive you.”

11 Then Jesus said, “If bad people get hold of you and take you to the synagogue, to the rulers of the synagogue, and to other rulers too, don't worry about what to say. And don't say to yourself, ‘Oh dear, what shall I say? What can I answer the rulers so that they won't beat me and put me in prison?’ Don't think like that and worry about what to say, 12 because at that very time God's Holy Spirit will show you the right words to speak.” We shouldn't be greedy, always wanting things belonging to other people.

13 Then a man who was there in the crowd spoke to Jesus and said, “Teacher, my brother doesn't want to give me any money. Our father has died, so we should share his money, his land and all his things, half for my brother and half for me. Please tell my brother to give me my share.”

14 But Jesus said, “Don't ask me. No one has given me that kind of work to do. I can't decide about that, so I can't tell your brother.”

15 Then Jesus spoke to the whole crowd. He said, “Listen! Don't be greedy, always wanting things that belong to other people. You mustn't be like that. Even if you are very rich, those things can't give you real life. So watch yourselves.” 16 Then Jesus told them this story.

There was a man who had plenty of money and food and everything. He worked hard every day growing a lot of plants for food. He worked very hard and a big crop grew on his land because it was good soil.

17 He started thinking about these things and said to himself, “I have so much food I haven't enough room for it all. So what shall I do? 18 Ah! I know, I will get rid of these little storehouses and build some big ones. Then I will store all my food and other things in big, new buildings. 19 Then I will say to myself, ‘I have plenty of good things here now, so I will stop work. I will never have to work again. I will eat plenty of food and I will always have lots to drink. I will be very happy!’ ”

That's what he said to himself, 20 but God spoke to him and he said, “You fool! This very night you will die. You have stored lots of food and other things for yourself, but who will get it all, your food and money and everything, when you die? You can't take all those things with you; other people will get them.”

21 After Jesus had told this story, he said to all the people, “It is like that for people who store up a lot of things for themselves, but they have nothing good to show to God.”

22 Then Jesus spoke to his disciples and said, “I have already told you about you having lots of things. I said that having lots of things won't give you what is really good. So don't be worried thinking about the food that you need to keep alive in this world. And don't think about the clothes you need to wear. 23 You always look after your bodies. You always eat food to make you strong, and you always wear warm clothes to keep warm. It's your spirits you should be thinking about and looking after.

24 “Think of the crows,” Jesus continued. “They don't plant seeds and gather them. They don't have storehouses, but God feeds them. So he will certainly give you your food, because God takes care of the birds and he will take much more care of you people.

25 “Tell me this,” said Jesus. “If you worry about staying alive longer in this world, can worrying about it keep you alive a few more days? Of course not. 26 So if you can't make your days longer in this world so that you can stay alive longer, then don't worry about food and clothes.

27 “Think about the wattle tree that grows in the bush,” said Jesus. “The wattle doesn't work and make clothes for itself. Long ago King Solomon was very rich and he always wore beautiful clothes. His clothes were very beautiful, but the wattle flowers are much more beautiful than that. 28 God made the lovely wattle, but the flowers don't last long. One day they are bright and beautiful, but the next day they dry up quickly and die. Maybe they get burnt in a fire. You don't trust God but God will surely give you people clothes to wear.”

29 Then Jesus continued, “Don't be always busy worrying about food and drink. 30 People who don't know God are always busy with these things. Your Father God knows that you need food and drink to stay alive. 31 So don't be always busy worrying about that kind of thing, but be busy obeying God, because he is your Lord. Then God will give you your food and drink.

32 “So, my friends, there are only a few of you, but don't be afraid, because your Father wants to be your Lord. I have already told you that he is looking after you. 33 So you should sell your things to other people and give the money to the poor.

“If you do that, you will have treasure later in heaven and that treasure in heaven will never finish. In this world you collect many things, but they get old and spoiled. Some might get lost, thieves might steal some, and white ants might eat some of them. But that doesn't happen in heaven. Thieves don't steal and white ants don't eat anything there. All your treasure will last there forever.

34 “If God is your Lord you will always think about him. But if you are always thinking about things you need, then he is not your Lord.”

35-36 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “You must wait for me and keep watching for me until I come back.” Then he told them this story about some servants who were waiting for their master.

There was once a man who went to celebrate with a friend who was getting married. He and some other people celebrated with his friend and had a feast.

His servants waited at home for their master to come back. They sat up waiting and didn't lie down or take off their coats to sleep. And they didn't put out their lamps.

They waited and waited. Then at last their master arrived and they heard him knocking on the door. They got up quickly, opened the door and brought him inside.

37-38 It may have been in the middle of the night or before dawn when their master came back, but they were still waiting. He was pleased because his servants hadn't gone to sleep and were waiting for him. He took off his coat and brought some food and made them sit down. He gave them their food even though he was their master. He was happy and he made his servants happy too. That master made his servants very happy because they had waited for him.

39 After Jesus had told his disciples this story he said to them, “You too must wait patiently until I come back here. You must wait like those servants. But don't be like one man who owned a house. He didn't know that a thief was coming. If he had known, would he have let the thief come inside? Of course not. The owner of the house would have been watching.

40 “And you disciples of mine must wait for me, because I, the one who was born in this place, will come back again when you aren't expecting me. I will come back while you aren't watching.”

41 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, that story you told us, is that just for us or for everyone?”

42 The Lord Jesus said to Peter and the other disciples, “Tell me. What is a faithful and wise servant like? His master has made him the boss over the other servants. So he gives work to those men and women and he gives them food from his master every day. But how will he work while his master isn't there? He should work well all the time while his master is away.

43 “Then when his master comes home and sees his servant working well, he will be very pleased. And his servant will be happy too. 44 Then his master will make his servant the boss over everything he has.”

45 Then Jesus said, “But maybe that same servant will say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to come back.’ Then he will beat the men and women when he gives them their work. He won't work well any longer and he will do careless, bad work. He will eat a lot of food while his master isn't there and he will drink strong drink and get drunk.

46 “After a while his master will come back again. He will arrive suddenly, while his servant isn't thinking about him coming back. Then what will the master do to his servant? He will give him a hard beating, just like people beat those who are bad.

47 “And this is another thing,” Jesus said. “One servant knows everything that his master wants him to do, but he doesn't work well for him. So his master will give this bad servant a hard beating. 48 But another servant doesn't know what his master wants him to do, and he doesn't work well for him. So his master will give this bad servant a little beating, because he doesn't know.”

Then Jesus said, “When God gives you important work, you must obey him and do good, honest work for him. And if God gives you more important work to do, you must obey him and work even harder.”

49 Then Jesus spoke to all his disciples and said, “I came into the world to judge everyone, to see if you are good or bad. It will be just as though I am lighting a fire to burn rubbish. If only the fire were already burning now! 50 But it isn't burning yet, because I must suffer first.

“When I suffer, it will be like going right down under suffering. Before, when John baptized a man, that man went right down under the water. When I suffer it will be like that, just like going right down under suffering. I am very sad about it, and I won't stop being sad until it is finished.”

51 Then Jesus said, “What do all of you think about me? Do you think I have come here to stop people fighting? No. I came here so that people would argue about me and make trouble for each other because of me.

52 “Maybe there are five people living in the same house. From today three of them will hate the other two. 53 Maybe a father and his son will hate each other. Maybe a mother and her daughter will hate each other. Maybe a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law will hate each other.”

54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see a cloud getting dark and coming from the west, when it starts to get bigger you talk about it. Straight away you say, ‘Rain is coming.’ And soon it does rain. 55 And also, when you hear the south wind blowing hard, you say, ‘It will be hot now.’ And it does get hot.

56 “You know about the rain when you look at the clouds. So why don't you understand what God is doing in the world today? You wicked people, you want others to say that you are good, but you are not.”

57 Then Jesus said to the people, “Why can't you decide for yourselves the right thing to do? 58 Maybe someone blames you about something. You should talk about it carefully together. Maybe he will take you to the judge because of something wrong you have done. While he is taking you, the two of you should talk about it as you go, before you get to the court. Don't wait, but try and make that person happy so that he will forgive you.

“If you don't make him happy, then he will take you straight to the judge. The judge decides about people, whether they are good or bad. He will give you to a soldier who will put you in jail. Then you will stay there for a long time. You will stay there for a very long time. 59 The judge won't let you out of jail until you pay him all the money he wants. You will have to give him the whole lot.”