New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Luke 17
1
Jesus spoke to his disciples. "Things that make people sin are sure to come," he said. "But how terrible it will be for the person who brings them!
Reference
2
Suppose people lead one of these little ones to sin. It would be better for those people to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.
Reference
3
So watch what you do. "If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. Then if he turns away from his sins, forgive him.
Reference
4
Suppose he sins against you seven times in one day. And suppose he comes back to you each time and says, 'I'm sorry.' Forgive him."
Reference
5
The apostles said to the Lord, "Give us more faith!"
Reference
Faith
Mark 9:24
Hebrews 12:2
2 Thessalonians 1:3
Parallel theme
Philippians 4:13
Mark 6:30
References Lord
Luke 7:13
6
He replied, "Suppose you have faith as small as a mustard seed. Then you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up. Be planted in the sea.' And it will obey you.
Reference
7
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. And suppose the servant came in from the field. Would you say to him, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?
8
No. Instead, you would say, 'Prepare my supper. Get yourself ready. Wait on me while I eat and drink. Then after that you can eat and drink.'
Reference
9
Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
10
"It's the same with you. Suppose you have done everything you were told to do. Then you should say, 'We are not worthy to serve you. We have only done our duty.' "
Reference
11
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12
As he was going into a village, ten men met him. They had a skin disease. They were standing close by.
Reference
14
Jesus saw them and said, "Go. Show yourselves to the priests." While they were on the way, they were healed.
Reference
20
Once the Pharisees asked Jesus when God's kingdom would come. He replied, "The coming of God's kingdom is not something you can see just by watching for it carefully.
Reference
21
People will not say, 'Here it is.' Or, 'There it is.' God's kingdom is among you."
Reference
Kingdom
Matthew 12:28
Romans 14:17
Parallel theme
Mark 13:21
Luke 21:8
Luke 17:23
References God
Colossians 1:27
22
Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. "The time is coming," he said, "when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you won't see it.
Reference
23
People will tell you, 'There he is!' Or, 'Here he is!' Don't go running off after them.
Reference
24
"When the Son of Man comes, he will be like the lightning. It flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.
Reference
Light
Matthew 24:27
Zechariah 9:14
Parallel theme
Matthew 24:30
2 Peter 3:10
1 Thessalonians 5:2
James 5:8
2 Thessalonians 2:2
25
But first the Son of Man must suffer many things. He will not be accepted by the people of today.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 16:21
Luke 9:22
Mark 8:31
Isaiah 53:3
Mark 12:10
Matthew 21:42
John 1:11
Luke 18:33
26
"Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes.
Reference
27
People were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28
"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking. They were buying and selling. They were planting and building.
29
But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven. And all the people were destroyed.
Reference
31
Suppose someone is on the roof of his house on that day. And suppose his goods are inside the house. He should not go down to get them. No one in the field should go back for anything either.
Reference
33
Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it. Anyone who loses his life will keep it.
Reference
34
"I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed. One person will be taken and the other left.
Reference
35
Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left."
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 24:41
37
"Where, Lord?" his disciples asked. He replied, "The vultures will gather where there is a dead body."
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 24:28
Summary of Luke 17
Luke 17 brings together several important teachings of Jesus concerning forgiveness, faith, humble service, gratitude, God's kingdom, spiritual readiness, and coming judgment, moving from practical instructions for daily discipleship to warnings about the future revelation of the Son of Man.
Jesus begins by warning His disciples that causing another person to stumble into sin is extremely serious, using the shocking image of a millstone around the neck to demonstrate the responsibility believers have toward the spiritual well-being of others.
At the same time, Jesus commands His followers to correct wrongdoing while remaining willing to forgive repeatedly when someone genuinely repents, showing that Christian community requires both truth and mercy rather than either unlimited tolerance or unforgiving judgment.
When the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, He responds with the image of a tiny mustard seed, explaining that genuine faith does not need to appear impressive because its effectiveness depends upon God rather than the apparent size of human confidence.
Jesus then teaches humility through the example of servants who simply perform their assigned duties without demanding special praise, reminding His disciples that obedience to God should produce gratitude and humility rather than spiritual superiority.
The chapter then moves to one of Jesus' most memorable miracles as He travels toward Jerusalem and encounters ten men suffering from leprosy, who remain at a distance and ask Him for mercy.
Jesus tells them to show themselves to the priests, and as they go, they are cleansed, but only one of the ten returns to Jesus, loudly praising God and falling at His feet in gratitude.
Luke deliberately identifies the grateful man as a Samaritan, making the story particularly powerful because Samaritans and Jews had longstanding religious and cultural tensions.
Jesus' question about the other nine exposes a central lesson: receiving God's blessing and recognizing God's grace are not the same thing.
The chapter then turns toward the subject of God's kingdom, as the Pharisees ask Jesus when it will come.
Jesus explains that God's kingdom cannot simply be identified by people pointing to a particular visible location because God's reign is already being revealed through His presence and ministry.
He then teaches His disciples about the future coming of the Son of Man, warning them against chasing rumors and false claims about where God's kingdom will appear, because His future revelation will be unmistakable, like lightning visible across the sky.
However, Jesus emphasizes that suffering must come before glory, telling His disciples that He will first suffer many things and be rejected by His generation.
He compares the future judgment with the days of Noah and Lot, when people continued their ordinary lives—eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building—until judgment suddenly arrived.
The lesson is not that ordinary activities are sinful but that people can become so absorbed in everyday life that they fail to recognize their accountability before God.
Jesus therefore warns His followers to remain ready and not become so attached to possessions or former circumstances that they hesitate when decisive obedience is required, using the brief but memorable reminder to remember Lot's wife.
The chapter concludes with Jesus explaining that trying to preserve one's life at all costs can result in losing it, while surrendering one's life for God's purposes leads to true life.
His illustrations of two people sleeping, two women grinding grain, and the textual variant concerning two people working in a field emphasize that judgment can bring sudden separation between people who appear outwardly identical, making spiritual readiness more important than external circumstances.
Historically, Luke 17 belongs to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' final journey toward Jerusalem around AD 28–30. The chapter reflects first-century Jewish beliefs concerning purity, healing, resurrection, God's kingdom, judgment, and the coming of the Son of Man.
The encounter with the ten lepers also reflects the social isolation experienced by people with serious skin diseases, while the Samaritan's response highlights the deep Jewish-Samaritan tensions of the period.
Luke 17 ultimately teaches that followers of Jesus must forgive generously, trust God, serve humbly, respond to His blessings with gratitude, recognize that God's kingdom is already at work, and remain spiritually prepared because God's final judgment will be sudden, decisive, and impossible to escape once it arrives.
Jesus begins by warning His disciples that causing another person to stumble into sin is extremely serious, using the shocking image of a millstone around the neck to demonstrate the responsibility believers have toward the spiritual well-being of others.
At the same time, Jesus commands His followers to correct wrongdoing while remaining willing to forgive repeatedly when someone genuinely repents, showing that Christian community requires both truth and mercy rather than either unlimited tolerance or unforgiving judgment.
When the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, He responds with the image of a tiny mustard seed, explaining that genuine faith does not need to appear impressive because its effectiveness depends upon God rather than the apparent size of human confidence.
Jesus then teaches humility through the example of servants who simply perform their assigned duties without demanding special praise, reminding His disciples that obedience to God should produce gratitude and humility rather than spiritual superiority.
The chapter then moves to one of Jesus' most memorable miracles as He travels toward Jerusalem and encounters ten men suffering from leprosy, who remain at a distance and ask Him for mercy.
Jesus tells them to show themselves to the priests, and as they go, they are cleansed, but only one of the ten returns to Jesus, loudly praising God and falling at His feet in gratitude.
Luke deliberately identifies the grateful man as a Samaritan, making the story particularly powerful because Samaritans and Jews had longstanding religious and cultural tensions.
Jesus' question about the other nine exposes a central lesson: receiving God's blessing and recognizing God's grace are not the same thing.
The chapter then turns toward the subject of God's kingdom, as the Pharisees ask Jesus when it will come.
Jesus explains that God's kingdom cannot simply be identified by people pointing to a particular visible location because God's reign is already being revealed through His presence and ministry.
He then teaches His disciples about the future coming of the Son of Man, warning them against chasing rumors and false claims about where God's kingdom will appear, because His future revelation will be unmistakable, like lightning visible across the sky.
However, Jesus emphasizes that suffering must come before glory, telling His disciples that He will first suffer many things and be rejected by His generation.
He compares the future judgment with the days of Noah and Lot, when people continued their ordinary lives—eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building—until judgment suddenly arrived.
The lesson is not that ordinary activities are sinful but that people can become so absorbed in everyday life that they fail to recognize their accountability before God.
Jesus therefore warns His followers to remain ready and not become so attached to possessions or former circumstances that they hesitate when decisive obedience is required, using the brief but memorable reminder to remember Lot's wife.
The chapter concludes with Jesus explaining that trying to preserve one's life at all costs can result in losing it, while surrendering one's life for God's purposes leads to true life.
His illustrations of two people sleeping, two women grinding grain, and the textual variant concerning two people working in a field emphasize that judgment can bring sudden separation between people who appear outwardly identical, making spiritual readiness more important than external circumstances.
Historically, Luke 17 belongs to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' final journey toward Jerusalem around AD 28–30. The chapter reflects first-century Jewish beliefs concerning purity, healing, resurrection, God's kingdom, judgment, and the coming of the Son of Man.
The encounter with the ten lepers also reflects the social isolation experienced by people with serious skin diseases, while the Samaritan's response highlights the deep Jewish-Samaritan tensions of the period.
Luke 17 ultimately teaches that followers of Jesus must forgive generously, trust God, serve humbly, respond to His blessings with gratitude, recognize that God's kingdom is already at work, and remain spiritually prepared because God's final judgment will be sudden, decisive, and impossible to escape once it arrives.