10. Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11. And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness). She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or to look upward.
12. And when Jesus saw her, He called [her to Him] and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity!
13. Then He laid [His] hands on her, and instantly she was made straight, and she recognized and thanked and praised God.
14. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day. [Exod. 20:9, 10.]
15. But the Lord replied to him, saying, You playactors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water it?
16. And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
17. Even as He said this, all His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.
18. This led Him to say, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
19. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the wild birds found shelter and roosted and nested in its branches.
20. And again He said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21. It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of wheat flour or meal until it was all leavened (fermented).
22. [Jesus] journeyed on through towns and villages, teaching, and making His way toward Jerusalem.
23. And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved (rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, and made partakers of the salvation by Christ)? And He said to them,
24. Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
25. When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! He will answer you, I do not know where [what household–certainly not Mine] you come from.