Luke 6:1-26

One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through some fields of grain. His followers picked the heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. Some Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?” Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into God’s house and took and ate the holy bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he gave some to the people who were with him.” Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.” On another Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man with a crippled right hand was there. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were watching closely to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath day so they could accuse him. But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here in the middle of everyone.” The man got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” Jesus looked around at all of them and said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were very angry and discussed with each other what they could do to Jesus. At that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the night praying to God. The next morning, Jesus called his followers to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: Simon (Jesus named him Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (called the Zealot), Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who later turned Jesus over to his enemies. Jesus and the apostles came down from the mountain, and he stood on level ground. A large group of his followers was there, as well as many people from all around Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast cities of Tyre and Sidon. They all came to hear Jesus teach and to be healed of their sicknesses, and he healed those who were troubled by evil spirits. All the people were trying to touch Jesus, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Jesus looked at his followers and said, “You people who are poor are blessed, because the kingdom of God belongs to you. You people who are now hungry are blessed, because you will be satisfied. You people who are now crying are blessed, because you will laugh with joy. “People will hate you, shut you out, insult you, and say you are evil because you follow the Son of Man. But when they do, you will be blessed. Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward in heaven. Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets. “But how terrible it will be for you who are rich, because you have had your easy life. How terrible it will be for you who are full now, because you will be hungry. How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now, because you will be sad and cry. “How terrible when everyone says only good things about you, because their ancestors said the same things about the false prophets.