1 Jesus finished speaking to the people and then he went to Capernaum. 2 In Capernaum there was a Roman officer who was in charge of a lot of soldiers who were also Romans. The officer was very worried because his servant was very sick and he loved him and he was dying.

3 Then the officer heard some people talking about Jesus. So he said to some Jewish elders, “Go to Jesus and take this message to him. Ask him to come quickly to my house and heal my servant.”

4 The elders went to Jesus and said, “A Roman officer wants you to come and heal his servant. 5 He is a very good boss and he loves our Jewish people. He has built a synagogue for us. He is a really good man, so let's go straight away.” 6 Then the elders and many other people set out and Jesus went with them.

They went a long way. Then, when they were near the Roman officer's house, some of his friends came to them bringing a message for Jesus. “Stop, Master,” they said. “You needn't come now. The officer told us to come to you. He said, ‘Go and tell Jesus not to come to my house because he is an important man and I am very unimportant. 7 And because of that I also can't go to him. But if he could just say the word then my servant would get better.’ That was the Roman officer's message, 8 and he told us this too. ‘I am an officer,’ he said, ‘but I also obey my boss. And the soldiers I am in charge of obey me too. If I say to one of my men, Go over there, he goes quickly. And if I say to one of them, Come here to me, he comes quickly. And if I say to my servant, Do this! then he does as I say.’ ”

9 Jesus was surprised when he heard this, and he turned round and spoke to the crowd of people who were following him. “I haven't found anyone who really trusts me, not even one person in Israel. But that Roman man really trusts me.”

10 Then the men went back to the Roman officer. When they arrived at his house they saw that the servant who had been sick was well now.

11 Then Jesus went to a place called Nain with his disciples. A crowd of people also went with him. They walked a long way. 12 Then they came near the town of Nain. Just as they arrived at the gate some people were coming out of the town, taking a dead man out to bury him. His mother was a widow, and now she had no children because he was her only son. She came out of Nain with a crowd of people.

13 When the Lord Jesus saw the widow he had pity on her and said to her, “Don't cry.” 14 Then he went over to the dead man and put his hand on the box. The men who were carrying the body stood still. Then Jesus spoke to the dead man. “Get up!” he said. 15 The man who had been dead sat up and talked. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 The people were all frightened and they praised God. They all said to each other, “This man is a great prophet. God has come to save his people.”

17 All through Judea people talked about what Jesus had done. And in all the places around Judea they were talking about it too.

18 John's disciples also heard about everything that had happened and they told John. Then John called two of them, 19 and said to them, “Go to the Lord Jesus and take this message from me. Ask him who he is and say, ‘John has told us about an important person who is to come here. Are you the one or must we wait until some other person comes? Who are you?’ ” 20 Then the two men left.

They walked until they found Jesus. They said, “We have come from John the Baptist. He has told us about an important person who is to come here. Maybe you are the one. If you are not, then maybe we will have to wait for someone else. John wants to know about you, so please tell us. Who are you?”

21 At that very time Jesus was healing many sick people. Some were very sick, some had evil spirits and others were blind. Jesus healed every kind of sickness and the people became better.

22 Then Jesus said to John's two disciples, “Go back to John. Tell him everything you have seen with your own eyes. And tell him everything you have heard today. Blind people can see. People who were lame can walk now. People with terrible skin diseases are made clean. Deaf people can hear and people who have died are alive now. And tell him this too. Poor people are hearing the good news about God. 23 Truly God is good to everyone who doesn't doubt me.”

24 Then the men left Jesus and went back to John. But Jesus talked about John to all the people. He said, “When you went into the desert, what sort of person were you looking for? Were you looking for a man who keeps changing his mind? Were you looking for a man who is like grass that blows around in the wind? 25 Maybe you were looking for a man who always wears beautiful clothes and always eats good food and sleeps on a soft bed. Was that the sort of person you were looking for? Of course not. That kind of person doesn't live in the desert. He lives in a good house, in a king's palace.

26 “Tell me,” Jesus said to them. “You were looking for a prophet who tells people God's words, weren't you! Yes, that's it. You were looking for a prophet and you found him. But that prophet is also God's messenger. 27 Let me tell you these words that are written in God's book, and listen carefully. They tell us about John. God said long ago,

And John is that very person. He is the one who came first.

28 “Truly,” Jesus said, “John is very important. From long ago until today no one else has been so important. But even the least important of you people, if you know about God becoming ruler, you are more important than John. If you know about God ruling, God will say about you, ‘This man is important, even more important than John.’ ”

29 All the people heard Jesus. And some men who worked for the Romans and collected tax money heard too, and they praised God. Those people had all heard John before this. They had obeyed God and John had baptized them, and now they heard Jesus. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of Moses' law didn't obey God, and so John didn't baptize them, because they refused.

31 Jesus said, “So what are you people of this day like? 32 You are like children who sit where many people are going here and there passing each other. Some children call out to others and say,

33 “That is true,” Jesus said. “A little while ago John the Baptist came here and you saw him all the time. Sometimes he didn't eat. He went without food and worshipped God, and he didn't drink wine. But you saw him and said, ‘This man has an evil spirit.’ 34 Then I, the one who was born in this place, arrived afterwards. You see me eating food and drinking wine, and you say, ‘This man is greedy. He is always eating and drinking strong wine. And he goes around with sinners and people who collect tax money.’ That is the kind of thing you are always saying about me. First of all you didn't want John and now today you don't want me either.

35 “Those people who obey God's words show others that everything God has said is true.”

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to go and eat with him. He was called Simon. Jesus went to his house and he went inside and sat down and ate with him. 37 In the same town there was a woman who was a sinner. She had been a sinner for a long time. But she knew that Jesus was eating in Simon's house. So she got a jar of expensive perfume. It was a beautiful smelling oil in a white stone jar. She took it to Simon's house and when she arrived she went inside too.

38 Jesus was sitting leaning on his elbow. The woman went up to him and stood behind him near his feet. She stood there crying, and her tears wet his feet as they fell. Then she bent down and dried his feet with her hair and kissed them. Then she poured the beautiful oil that she had brought with her on Jesus' feet. It smelled very good. The woman was doing that because she loved Jesus and she wanted him to know that she loved him.

39 The Pharisee who was the owner of the house saw what she was doing, and he said to himself, “What sort of man is this? If he is really a prophet he would know about this woman. He would know that this woman who is touching him is a very bad woman.”

40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, let me tell you a little story.”

Simon answered, “Yes, tell me, teacher.” So Jesus told him this story.

41 There was a rich man who used to lend money to poor people, and later on they had to pay it back. One day he lent a man a lot of money, 500 silver coins, and he lent another man 50.

Then the time came for the men to give the money back to him. 42 But they didn't have any money, so they couldn't pay him back. After he had waited a very long time, the man said to them, “It is all right. You needn't pay me back, because you haven't got any money. I will forget about that money.” “So tell me, Simon,” Jesus said to him. “Which of those men only loved him a little and which one loved him very much?”

43 Simon said, “I think the man who was supposed to pay back a lot of money would love him more, because he forgave him a lot more.” “That is right,” said Jesus. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman. When I came into your house you didn't give me any water for my feet. You didn't wash my feet for me, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears, and she has dried them with her hair. 45 When I came into your house, you didn't kiss me. But this woman has kissed my feet again and again, because she loves me. 46 You didn't pour any olive oil on my head so that people would know you are happy that I have come to your house. But this woman bought some expensive sweet-smelling perfume, and she has poured it over my feet. 47 She knows she is a sinner, because she has done many bad things. But God has forgiven all her sins, and so she loves me very much. But if God forgives someone only a few sins, then that person only loves me a little.”

48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “All your sins are forgiven.”

49 The people who were eating together in Simon's house said to themselves, “Who is this man who forgives people their sins? God is the only one who can speak words like that, not this man.”

50 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Because you trusted me I have saved you. Now go in peace.” Then she went away in peace.