Luke 6:20-49

20Jesus looked at his disciples. He spoke this message to them: ‘Happy are you people that are poor. The kingdom of God belongs to you.

21Happy are you people that are hungry now. God will feed you until you are full. Happy are you people that are crying now. Later, you will laugh.

22People may hate you, because you believe in me, the Son of Man. They may say bad things against you and make you go away from them. They may say that you are very bad. When that happens, be happy.

23God will prepare many good things for you in heaven. So be very happy when people do these bad things to you! Jump up and down because you are so happy. Their ancestors did the same bad things to God's prophets long ago.

24Listen, you that are rich. You have a comfortable life now, but it will be very bad for you.

25Listen, you that are full with food now. It will be very bad for you and you will be hungry. Listen, you that are laughing now. It will be very bad for you. You will be sad and you will cry.

26If people always say good things about you now, it will be very bad for you. Their ancestors also said good things about the false prophets long ago.’

27Jesus then said, ‘I say this to you who are listening carefully to me: Love the people who want to hurt you. Do good things to people that hate you.

28Say good things to people that say bad things against you. Pray for people who give you pain.

29Someone may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should let him slap the other side of your face too. Someone may take away your coat. If he does, do not stop him from taking your shirt too.

30When anyone asks you for something, give it to him. Someone may take something that belongs to you. If he does, let him keep it. Do not ask to have it back again.

31Do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you.

32Do you only love people who love you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people love those people who love them.

33Do you only do good things to people that do good things to you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people do the same thing.

34Do you lend things only to people that will give your things back to you? God will not praise you for doing that! Even bad people lend things to other people when they believe that they will get them back again.

35No! I am telling you to love people that want to hurt you. Do good things to them. Lend things to people even though you may not receive your things back again. Then God will prepare good things for you. He is kind even to people who do not say “thank you”. He is kind even to very bad people. If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of the powerful God who is over all.

36You should be kind to other people, as God your Father is kind.

37Do not say to anyone, “You are a bad person.” Then God will not say to you, “You are a bad person.” Do not say to anyone, “God should punish you because you are bad.” Then God will not say that you are guilty. Forgive other people and God will forgive you.

38Give to other people and God will give to you. He will give to you even more than you gave. He will fill your pocket until no more will go in. It will be so full that it will come out over the top. Think about how you give to other people. God will give in the same way to you.’

39Jesus also used a story to teach the people. He said, ‘A blind person cannot lead another blind person. If he does, then both of them will fall into a deep hole.

40A student is not more important than his teacher is. But each student who has learned everything will be like his teacher.

41Perhaps you want to tell a friend about his little mistake. If you want to tell him, first remember your own bigger mistakes.

42If you do not do that, you will be like a person who has a big piece of wood in his eye. But then he says to his friend, “My friend, you have a little piece of dirt in your eye. Let me take it out for you.” Do not be like that person. You think you are better than your friend. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your eye. After that, your eyes will be clear and you will see well. Then you can take the small piece of dirt out of your friend's eye.’

43Jesus said, ‘Good trees only make good fruit. Bad trees only make bad fruit.

44In this way you can know if a tree is good or bad. You can know this by the fruit that the tree makes. Figs and grapes do not grow on thorn bushes.

45People are also like that. A good man keeps good things in his mind. In his life, he brings those good things out from there. But a bad man keeps bad things in his mind. He brings those bad thoughts out from there. When a person speaks, his words show what is really in his mind.’

46Jesus said, ‘If you refuse to obey me, do not call me, “Master, Master.”

47Some people come to me. They listen to my message and they obey it. Let me tell you what those people are like. They are like a man who built a house.

48This man dug down in the ground to the rock. He put the first line of stones on the rock. After that, he built the house on top of the rock. Then a storm came and it brought a lot of water. The water hit the house but it could not move it. The water could not move the house because the man had built it very well.

49Some other people hear my message but they do not obey it. Those people are like another man who built a house. This man did not dig down deep to the rock. Instead, he put the first line of stones on the top of the ground. Then he built his house on them. A storm came and it brought a lot of water. It hit that house and it fell down immediately. The water completely destroyed it.’