Look, I have given you authority to tread<n id="1" /> on snakes and scorpions<n id="2" /> and on the full force of the enemy,<n id="3" /> and nothing will<n id="4" /> hurt you.

But Martha was distracted<n id="1" /> with all the preparations she had to make,<n id="2" /> so<n id="3" /> she came up to him and said, &#8220;Lord, don&#8217;t you care<n id="4" /> that my sister has left me to do all the work<n id="5" /> alone? Tell<n id="6" /> her to help me.&#8221;

Then<n id="1" /> he will reply<n id="2" /> from inside, &#8216;Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed.<n id="3" /> I cannot get up and give you anything.&#8217;<n id="4" />

I tell you, even though the man inside<n id="1" /> will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man&#8217;s<n id="2" /> sheer persistence<n id="3" /> he will get up and give him whatever he needs.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">As<n id="1" /> the crowds were increasing, Jesus<n id="2" /> began to say, &#8220;This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign,<n id="3" /> but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.<n id="4" />

But Jesus<n id="1" /> replied,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Woe to you experts in religious law as well!<n id="3" /> You load people<n id="4" /> down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch<n id="5" /> the burdens with even one of your fingers!

Then<n id="1" /> he said to them, &#8220;Watch out and guard yourself from<n id="2" /> all types of greed,<n id="3" /> because one&#8217;s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.&#8221;

Consider how the flowers<n id="1" /> grow; they do not work<n id="2" /> or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

Sell your possessions<n id="1" /> and give to the poor.<n id="2" /> Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out &#8211; a treasure in heaven<n id="3" /> that never decreases,<n id="4" /> where no thief approaches and no moth<n id="5" /> destroys.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief<n id="1" /> was coming, he would not have let<n id="2" /> his house be broken into.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then<n id="1" /> Jesus<n id="2" /> told this parable: &#8220;A man had a fig tree<n id="3" /> planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.

So<n id="1" /> he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, &#8216;For<n id="2" /> three years<n id="3" /> now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it<n id="4" /> I find none. Cut<n id="5" /> it down! Why<n id="6" /> should it continue to deplete<n id="7" /> the soil?&#8217;

Then the Lord answered him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall,<n id="2" /> and lead it to water?<n id="3" />

Then<n id="1" /> shouldn&#8217;t<n id="2" /> this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan<n id="3" /> bound for eighteen long<n id="4" /> years, be released from this imprisonment<n id="5" /> on the Sabbath day?&#8221;

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!<n id="2" /> How often I have longed<n id="3" /> to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but<n id="4" /> you would have none of it!<n id="5" />

Look, your house is forsaken!<n id="1" /> And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, &#8216;<b><i>Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!i>b>&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

&#8220;Which one<n id="1" /> of you, if he has a hundred<n id="2" /> sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture<n id="3" /> and go look for<n id="4" /> the one that is lost until he finds it?<n id="5" />

I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner<n id="1" /> who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people<n id="2" /> who have no need to repent.<n id="3" />p>

So<n id="1" /> he called the manager<n id="2" /> in and said to him, &#8216;What is this I hear about you?<n id="3" /> Turn in the account of your administration,<n id="4" /> because you can no longer be my manager.&#8217;

Then<n id="1" /> the manager said to himself, &#8216;What should I do, since my master is taking my position<n id="2" /> away from me? I&#8217;m not strong enough to dig,<n id="3" /> and I&#8217;m too ashamed<n id="4" /> to beg.