Luke 13

1 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

2 Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.

4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”

6 He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

7 He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’

8 He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.

9 If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”

10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.

11 Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over and could in no way straighten herself up.

12 When Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.”

13 He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God.

14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”

15 Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water?

16 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

18 He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it?

19 It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.”

20 Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom?

21 It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.

23 One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them,

24 “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.

25 When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’

27 He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’

28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.

29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom.

30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”

31 On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”

32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.

33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!

35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Around Luke 13

Book context

LukeEditorial draft

Luke begins with a short preface: many had already written accounts, and the author, having traced everything carefully, writes an orderly account for “most excellent Theophilus” so that he may know the certainty of what he was taught (1:1 to 4). The Gospel pays close attention to people others overlooked and sums up Jesus’ mission as seeking and saving the lost (19:10). The author is not named; church tradition attributes the book to Luke, a companion of Paul. Acts is also addressed to Theophilus (Acts 1:1), and the two books are widely read as one work in two parts.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Luke 13 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Someone brings Jesus bad news: Pilate has killed some Galileans while they were making sacrifices. Jesus does not let the story become a verdict. Those Galileans were no worse than others, he says, and neither were the eighteen who died when a tower fell. Unless all repent, all will perish. Then he tells of a fig tree that has borne nothing for three years. The owner says cut it down. The gardener says, leave it one more year, and I will dig around it.

On a Sabbath, in a synagogue, a woman who has been bent over for eighteen years is freed. The synagogue leader is indignant. Jesus calls his critics hypocrites, since they untie their animals on the Sabbath, and he calls her a daughter of Abraham. He tells of a mustard seed and of yeast, and says, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door”. When Pharisees warn that Herod wants to kill him, he says he must go on to Jerusalem, and he laments over the city.

Background

The two disasters at the start are not known from other sources, though other ancient writers describe Pilate as harsh. The text rejects the idea that those who suffer must be worse sinners. The woman is healed inside a synagogue, and the title Jesus gives her echoes Abraham. Verse 34 pictures a hen gathering her chicks, a gentle image of protection. The final quotation comes from Psalm 118:26. Christians differ on how verses 24 to 30 relate to the question of who will be saved.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 29 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes