Luke 17 — Liberation and Inclusion Translation

Vélez Johnson, Brandon C.

¹ Jesus^a said to his students, “It’s unavoidable for obstacles to come; nevertheless, it won’t end well^b for the one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him to have a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to be an obstacle for one of these who are treated as insignificant.^c ³ Be mindful of^d yourselves. If your family member^e deviates,^f call them to account.^g And if they reorient their mind,^h release claimⁱ on it for them. ⁴ Even if they deviate against you seven times in a day and turns back to you seven times, saying, ‘I am reorienting my mind,’ keep releasing claim on it for them.”

⁵ The commissioned ones^j said to the Lord, “Increase our trust!”^k

⁶ So the Lord said, “If you had^l trust like a mustard seed,^m you would say to this black mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would listen to you.

⁷ “Which of you who has someone enslaved to you who is ploughing or tending sheep and comes in from the field tells him, ‘Since you’re here, recline for a meal right away!’? ⁸ Instead, wouldn’t they tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and be readyⁿ to serve me while I eat and drink, and after that you will eat and drink’? ⁹ They don’t have gratitude for the person who is enslaved because he did what was assigned, do they? ¹⁰ Similarly, you also, when you do everything that is assigned to you, say, ‘We are enslaved workers with no surplus claim,^o and we have done what we have owed it to do.’”

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was traveling between Samaria and Galilee.^p ¹² As he was entering one village, ten men with a skin condition^q went to meet him. They stood at a distance, ¹³ raised their voices, and said, “Jesus, sir,^r show us compassion!”^s

¹⁴ When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests!” As they were leaving, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was made well, he turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself facedown at Jesus’ feet, giving thanks to him. (He was a Samaritan.)

¹⁷ Jesus responded by saying, “Weren’t all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Were none found turning back to give praise to God except this man of a different people?” ¹⁹ Then he told him, “Stand up and go on. Your trust has restored^t you.”

²⁰ When Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees about when God’s Reign would come, he answered, “God’s Reign doesn’t come in a way that is observed.^u ²¹ And people won’t say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or ‘There! Look!’ You see, God’s Reign is among^v you.”

²² To the students, he said, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Humanity,^w but you won’t see it. ²³ People will tell you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or ‘Look, here he is!’ Don’t go out or chase after them. ²⁴ You see, just as lightning flashes and lights the heavens from one end to the other, that’s how the Son of Humanity will be on his Day. ²⁵ But first it is necessary for him to suffer many things and be rejected by this group.^x ²⁶ And just like it was in Noah’s days, it will also be the same in the days of the Son of Humanity. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just like it happened in Lot’s days, people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from the heavens and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be in line with those things on the day the Son of Humanity is revealed. ³¹ On that day, anyone who is on the roof must not go inside to get their containers.^y Likewise, anyone in a field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Whoever strives to hang onto^z their life^aa will lose it, but whoever loses their life will preserve their life.^bb ³⁴ I’m telling you, on that night, there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding grain in the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.”^cc

³⁷ The students responded and said to him, “Where, Lord?”

He told them, “Where there’s a body, that’s where the eagles^dd will gather.”

Footnotes

a Literally, ‘he.’ The name is added for clarity.
b The Greek word ouai is often translated “woe,” but in modern English that sounds vague or archaic. It’s a prophetic outcry expressing both grief and warning, something like “this will end badly for you” or “you’re heading for disaster.” It’s not a curse but a lament for the harm people bring on themselves and each other through hypocrisy and injustice.
c Literally, ‘these little ones.’ English readers assume it means children, partly because ‘little ones’ is used exclusively for children in English and partly because Matthew 18’s parallel passage is explicitly about children. However, no children appear in Luke’s context at all. The only people that could be what “these” is pointing to in this context is the marginalized and impoverished victims of injustice in the previous chapter.
d The Greek phrase prosechete heaoutois literally means ‘hold it to yourselves’ with the ‘it’ being an assumed ‘mind.’ The idea is to pay continual and careful attention to yourselves. This idea of paying careful attention to one’s own integrity and behavior recurs throughout the Bible, most famously appearing in Matthew 7:1-5.
e The word adelphos literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group.
f Traditionally, ‘sins.’ The term ‘deviates’ describes acting in a way that doesn’t follow the path traced out by Torah and lived out by Jesus. This shift emphasizes actions misaligned with the sacred path rather than an inherent sinful state. The Greek hamartano represents behaviors or conditions that “miss the mark” set by God’s path. ‘Deviating’ could be actions that are morally corrupt, such as exploiting the poor or siding with oppressors for profit.
g The word epitimao is from the verb for naming someone’s worth, honor, or assessed value, and epi- applies or intensifies that evaluation, shifting the meaning toward “weigh what they’ve done,” not toward punishment. Therefore, “call them to account” preserves the evaluative idea along with the relational obligation to name the harm directly.
h The Greek word metanoia is traditionally translated as ‘repent.’ The meaning of metanoia is ‘change the mind’ or ‘transform the mind.’ It does not mean ‘remorse’ or ‘guilt.’ The confusion comes from the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, which used paenitere, which means ‘to be penitent,’ which was a significant shift away from the Greek meaning. The use of ‘reorient’ here reflects the kind of transformation in view, and it also surfaces the Hebraic understanding of the concept that the biblical writers would have had in mind. The Hebrew word traditionally translated as ‘repent’ was shuv, which literally meant ‘turn around’ or ‘turn back.’
i The word here, traditionally translated as “forgive,” is never directed toward a person but always directed toward what the person owes. For example, it would not be accurate to phrase it as “forgive us for our debts” but rather “forgive our debts for us.” It’s about sending away, distancing, releasing, letting go, separating from oneself, abandoning or disconnecting from something.
j Traditionally, ‘apostles.’ The word means ‘someone who is sent to carry out a purpose’ and while it became used in a particular way in the church, it was not an inherently religious word in the Greek language.
k Traditionally, ‘faith.’ The Greek term pistis communicates meanings such as trust, faithfulness, commitment, and allegiance, reflecting an active, relational trust rather than a static belief. This translation emphasizes an ongoing, reciprocal relationship between trusting someone and committed faithfulness that confirms trustworthiness.
l The grammar of this sentence is a “second class conditional” which means there is the strong implication that the condition for the specified outcome is currently not met.
m The mustard plant, most likely Brassica nigra (black mustard), was well known in first-century Palestine as the largest of common garden plants. Ancient sources, including the Talmud, describe it reaching impressive sizes, with one rabbi noting he was accustomed to climbing into it as one would a fig tree. However, it was not classified as a tree. Calling it a dendron here is deliberate hyperbole rather than botanical description. The image of a great tree whose branches shelter birds draws directly on the Hebrew prophets: in Ezekiel 17:23, 31:6, and Daniel 4:12, a vast, sheltering tree represents a kingdom with reach across peoples and nations.
n The wording here is specific to wrapping and securing the tunic to enable someone to move freely.
o Achreioi is traditionally translated “worthless,” but the context is economic, not a judgment on the workers’ personal worth or character. Having done what was required, they carry no outstanding credit, nothing that would put the enslaver in their debt. “Workers with no surplus claim” preserves the economic logic: the account is even.
p It has in view the border area between the two regions, where the outcasts of both regions would have resided.
q The Greek lepros is related to the English word “leprosy,” but the connection is misleading. The condition in view was not the disease now called leprosy (Hansen’s disease), which was likely rare in first-century Palestine. Lepros was a general term for skin conditions causing visible scaling or discoloration, including conditions like psoriasis and eczema. Leviticus 13 provides detailed priestly criteria for determining which skin conditions rendered a person ritually unclean, and the determining factor throughout is whether the condition is spreading or shows signs of active infection. Non-contagious, non-spreading conditions are repeatedly declared clean. Chronic scaling conditions like psoriasis and eczema would not meet Torah’s criteria for exclusion, yet by the first century such individuals were being treated as permanently unclean, barred from communal worship and socially isolated. Jesus’ response upends the system entirely.
r Traditionally, ‘Master.’ The Greek word here is epistata, a respectful form of address used exclusively by Jesus’ disciples. It derives from the root epistamai, meaning “to know, understand, or be acquainted with,” and is related to the idea of someone who stands over or supervises—hence a guide, overseer, or leader. Many traditional translations render it “Master,” but that carries authoritarian connotations absent from the Greek. The term conveys relational respect rather than institutional authority.
s Traditionally, ‘mercy.’ The English word ‘mercy’ is sometimes used to communicate compassion, which is what is in view here. However, ‘mercy’ can also be used to refer to ‘pity’ or ‘relenting from enacting a punishment’ which has nothing to do with this Greek word. It is used of taking care of people. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the “Septuagint,” uses this word to translate the Hebrew word hesed, which means something along the lines of ‘loyal love,’ ‘compassionate faithfulness,’ ‘lovingkindness,’ ‘committed love/kindness.’ It carries a commitment to pursue good for others based in care. The Greek word is eleemones, related to the word for olive oil, which was used as a medicinal ointment in caring for the sick.
t Traditionally, ‘saved’ or ‘healed.’ This word can be translated a number of ways, with all of them about taking action to create or protect wellbeing. Options include, ‘liberated,’ ‘restored,’ ‘healed,’ ‘protected,’ ‘rescued,’ and others. This person is seeking to be liberated from the burden of his medical condition and restored to inclusion in the community.
u The word paratereseos was used in the context of making observations as part of medical examinations or as an astronomer observing the stars. The sense in this context would be to observe from a distance without participation. It may also emphasize the sense of diagnosing a problem with others and not including themselves in the assessment. It pairs interestingly with the ten men with skin conditions standing at a distance. They remained physically distant because they were rejected while the Pharisees are being shown to remain spiritually and socially distant because they reject others.
v There is scholarly debate whether this word should be translated as ‘among’ or ‘within.’ The fact that it is addressed to a group within a social context involving Jesus valuing and enacting God’s reign among the outcast and marginalized strongly suggests it should be understood as ‘among’ here. It seems to be emphasizing that the Pharisees are being called to participate in God’s reign among the people, not that they have God’s reign internally within each of them in a disembodied, spiritual sense.
w Reference to Ezekiel—“Son of Man” was how Ezekiel referred to himself—and to Daniel 7:13-27. This is one of the loftiest titles Jesus could have used for himself and likely played a key role in accusations against him of attempting to usurp the royal throne. At the same time, though Daniel 7:13-14 connects the “one like a son of humanity” to a kingship with all peoples serving him and that his kingship shall never be destroyed, continuing to verse 27 is the parallel verse that explains it further, and it asserts that “the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people” as an everlasting kingdom. It also left Jesus with deniability, since he could also claim just to be calling himself a prophet in the tradition of Ezekiel.
x Or ‘generation’ or ‘lineage’ or any ‘group of people’ that has a shared characteristic or origin, including gender.
y The word skeue refers to vessels or containers. In a household context, it refers to the storage jars holding provisions like grain and oil. The instruction is not to go back inside for the supplies you need to live on. The situation is urgent enough not even to take the time to get survival goods.
z The word peripoio literally means “make aside” in the sense of reserving something out of the way so that it can be kept for later.
aa The Greek word here is psuche, the root of the English ‘psyche’ and ‘psychology,’ and traditionally translated as ‘soul.’ A better single word might be ‘being.’ Like the Hebrew nephesh, it refers to the ‘living being’—a unity of body, breath, and life-force. Depending on context, other appropriate translations include ‘life’ and ‘self.’ In this case, it’s about preserving one’s life, or continuing to have a self or being.
bb Zoogoneo means to preserve alive or keep living, built from the root zoe, a different Greek word for ‘life.’ The only other New Testament occurrence is Acts 7:19, where it describes keeping infants alive. Luke uses sozo (restore, preserve) in place of zoogoneo for the same phrase earlier in 9:24.
cc Verse 36 is not in the most reliable manuscripts and is almost certainly a later addition meant to make this passage match Matthew 24:40.
dd The “body” in this verse has been interpreted by early Christian theologians like Irenaeus and Origen as a reference to Christ’s crucified body. In their reading, the eagles symbolize the faithful or divine agents who will gather to Christ at his arrival. The eagle is often used as a symbol of power, swiftness, and divine action in biblical and apocalyptic literature, sometimes representing divine messengers or even the Roman armies. The Greek word can also mean ‘vultures,’ and some scholars interpret it that way here.

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