¹ One Sabbath, Jesus was having dinner in the home of an important Pharisee, and everyone was carefully watching Jesus.

² All of a sudden a man with swollen legs stood up in front of him. ³ Jesus turned and asked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses, "Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?" ⁴ But they did not say a word.

Jesus took hold of the man. Then he healed him and sent him away. ⁵ Afterwards, Jesus asked the people, "If your son or ox falls into a well, wouldn't you pull him out right away, even on the Sabbath?" ⁶ There was nothing they could say.

⁷ Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So he told them:

⁸ When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited. ⁹ Then the one who invited you will come and say, "Give your place to this other guest!" You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.

¹⁰ When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, "My friend, take a better seat!" You will then be honored in front of all the other guests. ¹¹ If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.

¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him:

When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. ¹³ When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.