“Now, according to your word, ¹  Sovereign Lord, ²  permit ³  your servant ⁴  to depart ⁵  in peace.

So ¹  when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave ²  well.

He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, ¹  will he? ² 

A centurion ¹  there ²  had a slave ³  who was highly regarded, ⁴  but who was sick and at the point of death.

Blessed is that slave ¹  whom his master finds at work ²  when he returns.

Then ¹  the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ ² 

So ¹  he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. ² 

When the centurion ¹  heard ²  about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders ³  to him, asking him to come ⁴  and heal his slave.

That ¹  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ²  will receive a severe beating.

At ¹  the time for the banquet ²  he sent his slave ³  to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

So ¹  the master said to his ²  slave, ‘Go out to the highways ³  and country roads ⁴  and urge ⁵  people ⁶  to come in, so that my house will be filled. ⁷ 

“Would any one of you say ¹  to your slave ²  who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? ³ 

So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; ¹  we have only done what was our duty.’” ² 

And he summoned ten of his slaves, ¹  gave them ten minas, ²  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’

And the king ¹  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ²  in a very small matter, you will have authority ³  over ten cities.’

When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants so that they would give ²  him his portion of the crop. ³  However, the tenants beat his slave ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed.

Then ¹  one of them ²  struck the high priest’s slave, ³  cutting off his right ear.

So ¹  the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious ²  and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly ³  to the streets and alleys of the city, ⁴  and bring in the poor, ⁵  the crippled, ⁶  the blind, and the lame.’

For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹  I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, ²  and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ³ 

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