One day Jesus, on his journey to Jerusalem, passed through a village in
Samaria. He saw ten men who had the leprosy; they kept away from all
other people, as the law obliged them to. But when they saw Jesus, they
called out with loud voices, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus
said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” This was what people
who were cured of leprosy were obliged to do before they could go among
the people. The priest had to give them a certificate to say that they
were cured. As these ten men turned to go to the priest, as Jesus had
told them, suddenly they found that they were well. One of them, as soon
as he found it out, turned back and followed after Jesus, and when he
reached him he bowed down at his feet, thanking him and praising God. He
was from a Samaritan village; not one of the Lord’s chosen people, but a
Gentile. Jesus said to him, “Didn’t I cure ten men? Where are the nine?
Not one of them came back to thank me, except this Samaritan.” Then he
said to the kneeling man, “Arise, and go on your way; your faith hath
made you whole.”
[Illustration: JESUS CURING THE TEN LEPERS.—Luke xvii. 14.]