¹Then when he had finished all his words in the hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum. ²Now the servant of a certain centurion, who was highly valued by him, was ill and on the point of dying, ³and having heard about Jesus, he sent Jewish elders to him requesting him to come and save his servant. ⁴Then when they had come to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, and they said that he to whom he would grant this was worthy of it, ⁵and they said, “For he loves our nation, and he himself built the synagogue for us.” ⁶So Jesus went with them, and by the time he was not far away from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, who said to him, “Lord, do not put yourself to trouble, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof, ⁷which is why I have not considered myself worthy to come to you either. But just say the word and my servant will be cured. ⁸For indeed I am a man appointed under a system of authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go’, and he goes, and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this’, and he does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard these things, he was astonished at him, and he turned and said to the crowd who were following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found so much faith.” ¹⁰Then those who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant who had been ailing in good health. ¹¹And it came to pass soon afterwards that he went to a town called Nain, and a considerable number of his disciples went with him, and also a large crowd, ¹²and when he approached the gate of the town, it transpired that a dead youth was being carried out – the only-begotten son of his mother – and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³Then when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Don't cry.” ¹⁴And he went up and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still, and he said, “Young man, I say to you, get up.” ¹⁵At this the dead youth sat up and began to speak. Then he gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Then fear gripped everyone, and they glorified God, and they said, “A great prophet has arisen among us”, and, “God has visited his people.” ¹⁷And this report about him spread in the whole of Judaea and in all the neighbouring area. ¹⁸Moreover, John's disciples reported back to him concerning all these things, ¹⁹at which John called for a certain two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ²⁰Then when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you asking, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ” ²¹Now in that very hour he cured many of their diseases and infirmities and evil spirits, and he granted many blind their sight. ²²And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report back to John what you have seen and heard: that the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear again, the dead are raised; good tidings are preached to the poor. ²³And blessed is whoever does not stumble at me.” ²⁴Then when John's messengers had departed, he began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out in the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵Well then, what did you go out to see? A man clothed in delicate clothes? You know that people in elegant clothing and living in luxury are to be found in royal palaces. ²⁶So what then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one more eminent than a prophet. ²⁷This man is he about whom it stands written: ²⁸For I say to you, no-one among those born from women is a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹Then when all the people had heard it, including the tax collectors, they pronounced God righteous, having been baptized with John's baptism. ³⁰But the Pharisees and scholars in the law rejected God's counsel to them and were not baptized by him. ³¹“To whom then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they similar? ³²They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to each other, and saying,

‘We have played the flute to you,

But you have not danced.

We have sung you a dirge,

But you have not wept.’

³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ ³⁴The son of man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a gluttonous and wine-drinking man, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ ³⁵But wisdom is justified by all her children.” ³⁶Then one of the Pharisees asked him to dine with him. So he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined. ³⁷Now there was a woman in the town, who was a sinner, who had found out that he was reclining in the Pharisee's house, and she brought an alabaster box of ointment, ³⁸and she stood at his feet weeping behind him, and she began to wet his feet with the tears and wipe them off with the hairs of her head, and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹But when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who, and what kind of woman, it is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰At this Jesus reacted and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Then he said, “Teacher, say it.” ⁴¹“There were two debtors to a certain money-lender. One owed five hundred denaries, the other fifty. ⁴²Since they did not have the means to repay, he waived the debt for both of them. Which of them, then”, he said, “will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one for whom he waived the greater debt.” Then he said to him, “You have judged correctly.” ⁴⁴Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house, but you did not put water on my feet. But she wet my feet with tears and wiped them off with the hairs of her head. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss. But from the time I came in, she did not stop kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷For this reason I say to you, her many sins have been forgiven, so that she loved me a lot. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” ⁴⁸And he said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” ⁴⁹Then those reclining at table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 7: v.27 ↔ Malachi 3:1.