Luke 18:1–20:47
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.f 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justiceg against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”h
6 And the Lordi said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry outj to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Mank comes,l will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousnessm and looked down on everyone else,n Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray,o one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himselfp and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fastq twice a week and give a tenthr of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breasts and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’t
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”u
18:15–17pp—Mt 19:13–15; Mk 10:13–16
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little childv will never enter it.”
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
18:18–30pp—Mt 19:16–29; Mk 10:17–30
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”w
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’a”x
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor,y and you will have treasure in heaven.z Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!a 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”b
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”c
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to comed eternal life.”e
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
18:31–33pp—Mt 20:17–19; Mk 10:32–34
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem,f and everything that is written by the prophetsg about the Son of Manh will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles.i They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog himj and kill him.k On the third dayl he will rise again.”m
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.n
A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight
18:35–43pp—Mt 20:29–34; Mk 10:46–52
35 As Jesus approached Jericho,o a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”p
38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David,q have mercyr on me!”
39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”s
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”t 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.u
19 Jesus entered Jerichov and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-figw tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.x
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”y
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,z “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,a I will pay back four times the amount.”b
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.c 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”d
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of Gode was going to appear at once.f 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servantsg and gave them ten minas.a ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “ ‘Well done, my good servant!’h his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’i
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’j
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words,k you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?l 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.m 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’ ”
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
19:29–38pp—Mt 21:1–9; Mk 11:1–10
19:35–38pp—Jn 12:12–15
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.n 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethanyo at the hill called the Mount of Olives,p he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.q 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaksr on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives,s the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”b t
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”u
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”v
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”w
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over itx 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.y 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.z They will not leave one stone on another,a because you did not recognize the time of God’s comingb to you.”
19:45,46pp—Mt 21:12–16; Mk 11:15–18; Jn 2:13–16
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he