Now when Jesus returned, ¹  the crowd welcomed him, because they were all waiting for him.

Now ¹  the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder ²  why he was delayed in the holy place. ³ 

be like people ¹  waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, ²  so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

At that moment, ¹  she came up to them ²  and began to give thanks to God and to speak ³  about the child ⁴  to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. ⁵ 

Blessed are those slaves ¹  whom their master finds alert ²  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ³  he will dress himself to serve, ⁴  have them take their place at the table, ⁵  and will come ⁶  and wait on them! ⁷ 

(He ¹  had not consented ²  to their plan and action.) He ³  was from the Judean town ⁴  of Arimathea, and was looking forward to ⁵  the kingdom of God. ⁶ 

plotting against ¹  him, to catch ²  him in something he might say.

So ¹  he stood over her, commanded ²  the fever, and it left her. Immediately ³  she got up and began to serve ⁴  them.

Now ¹  there was a man in Jerusalem ²  named Simeon who was righteous ³  and devout, looking for the restoration ⁴  of Israel, and the Holy Spirit ⁵  was upon him.

While the people were filled with anticipation ¹  and they all wondered ²  whether perhaps John ³  could be the Christ, ⁴ 

and sent them to Jesus ¹  to ask, ²  “Are you the one who is to come, ³  or should we look for another?”

When ¹  the men came to Jesus, ²  they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ³  ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” ⁴ 

And all those who knew Jesus ¹  stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw ²  these things.

The ¹  younger of them said to his ²  father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate ³  that will belong ⁴  to me.’ So ⁵  he divided his ⁶  assets between them. ⁷ 

People will be fainting from fear ¹  and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ² 

So ¹  he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For ²  three years ³  now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it ⁴  I find none. Cut ⁵  it down! Why ⁶  should it continue to deplete ⁷  the soil?’

Won’t ¹  the master ²  instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready ³  to serve me while ⁴  I eat and drink. Then ⁵  you may eat and drink’?

But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give ¹  to the poor, and if ²  I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!”

For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, ¹  or the one who serves? Is it not ²  the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one ³  who serves.