Luke - Chapter 19

¹ He entered Jericho and was going through the town

² and suddenly a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man.

³ He kept trying to see which Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd;

⁴ so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your house today.'

⁶ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully.

⁷ They all complained when they saw what was happening. 'He has gone to stay at a sinner's house,' they said.

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.'

⁹ And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham;

¹⁰ for the Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost.'

¹¹ While the people were listening to this he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to show itself then and there.

¹² Accordingly he said, 'A man of noble birth went to a distant country to be appointed king and then return.

¹³ He summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds, telling them, "Trade with these, until I get back."

¹⁴ But his compatriots detested him and sent a delegation to follow him with this message, "We do not want this man to be our king."

¹⁵ 'Now it happened that on his return, having received his appointment as king, he sent for those servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made by trading.

¹⁶ The first came in, "Sir," he said, "your one pound has brought in ten."

¹⁷ He replied, "Well done, my good servant! Since you have proved yourself trustworthy in a very small thing, you shall have the government of ten cities."

¹⁸ Then came the second, "Sir," he said, "your one pound has made five."

¹⁹ To this one also he said, "And you shall be in charge of five cities."

²⁰ Next came the other, "Sir," he said, "here is your pound. I put it away safely wrapped up in a cloth

²¹ because I was afraid of you; for you are an exacting man: you gather in what you have not laid out and reap what you have not sown."

²² He said to him, "You wicked servant! Out of your own mouth I condemn you. So you knew that I was an exacting man, gathering in what I have not laid out and reaping what I have not sown?

²³ Then why did you not put my money in the bank? On my return I could have drawn it out with interest."

²⁴ And he said to those standing by, "Take the pound from him and give it to the man who has ten pounds."

²⁵ And they said to him, "But, sir, he has ten pounds . . ."

²⁶ "I tell you, to everyone who has will be given more; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has.

²⁷ "As for my enemies who did not want me for their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence." '

²⁸ When he had said this he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹ Now it happened that when he was near Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives as it is called, he sent two of the disciples, saying,

³⁰ 'Go to the village opposite, and as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has ever yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

³¹ If anyone asks you, "Why are you untying it?" you are to say this, "The Master needs it." '

³² The messengers went off and found everything just as he had told them.

³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners said, 'Why are you untying it?'

³⁴ and they answered, 'The Master needs it.'

³⁵ So they took the colt to Jesus and, throwing their cloaks on its back, they lifted Jesus on to it.

³⁶ As he moved off, they spread their cloaks in the road,

³⁷ and now, as he was approaching the downward slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen.

³⁸ They cried out: Blessed is he who is coming as King in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!

³⁹ Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Master, reprove your disciples,'

⁴⁰ but he answered, 'I tell you, if these keep silence, the stones will cry out.'

⁴¹ As he drew near and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it

⁴² and said, 'If you too had only recognised on this day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your eyes!

⁴³ Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side;

⁴⁴ they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because you did not recognise the moment of your visitation.'

⁴⁵ Then he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were busy trading, saying to them,

⁴⁶ 'According to scripture, my house shall be a house of prayer but you have turned it into a bandits' den.'

⁴⁷ He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, in company with the leading citizens, tried to do away with him,

⁴⁸ but they could not find a way to carry this out because the whole people hung on his words.

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