Luke 6:1-26

One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through the grainfields. His disciples began to break off some heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands and ate them. Some of the Pharisees said, “It is against the Law to do this on the Sabbath day. Why are you doing it?” Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you ever read about what David did? He and his men were hungry. He entered the house of God and took the holy bread. He ate the bread that only priests were allowed to eat. David also gave some to his men.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.” On another Sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching. A man whose right hand was weak and twisted was there. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were trying to find fault with Jesus. So they watched him closely. They wanted to see if he would heal on the Sabbath day. But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He spoke to the man who had the weak and twisted hand. “Get up and stand in front of everyone,” he said. So the man got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “What does the Law say we should do on the Sabbath day? Should we do good? Or should we do evil? Should we save life? Or should we destroy it?” He looked around at all of them. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand had been made as good as new. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were very angry. They began to talk to one another about what they might do to Jesus. On one of those days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray. He spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called for his disciples to come to him. He chose 12 of them and made them apostles. Here are their names. Simon, whom Jesus named Peter, and his brother Andrew James John Philip Bartholomew Matthew Thomas James, son of Alphaeus Simon who was called the Zealot Judas, son of James and Judas Iscariot who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies Jesus went down the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there. A large number of other people were there too. They came from all over Judea, including Jerusalem. They also came from the coastland around Tyre and Sidon. They had all come to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses. People who were troubled by evil spirits were made well. Everyone tried to touch Jesus. Power was coming from him and healing them all. Jesus looked at his disciples. He said to them, “Blessed are you who are needy. God’s kingdom belongs to you. Blessed are you who are hungry now. You will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are sad now. You will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they have nothing to do with you and say bad things about you, and when they treat your name as something evil. They do all this because you are followers of the Son of Man. “The prophets of long ago were treated the same way. When these things happen to you, be glad and jump for joy. You will receive many blessings in heaven. “But how terrible it will be for you who are rich! You have already had your easy life. How terrible for you who are well fed now! You will go hungry. How terrible for you who laugh now! You will cry and be sad. How terrible for you when everyone says good things about you! Their people treated the false prophets the same way long ago.