Luke 18–19

THE PARABLE OF THE PERSISTENT WIDOW

18Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray^s always and not give up.^{t 2}“There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God^u or respect people. ³And a widow ^vin that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

⁴“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, ⁵yet because this widow keeps^w pestering me,^G I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out^H by her persistent coming.’ ”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷Will not God grant justice^x to his elect^y who cry out to him day and night?^z Will he delay^aa helping them?^{A 8}I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,^ab will he find faith on earth?”

THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR

⁹He^ac also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves^ad that they were righteous^ae and looked down^af on everyone else: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray,^ag one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee was standing^ah and praying like this about himself:^B ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy,^ai unrighteous,^aj adulterers,^ak or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast^al twice a week; I give a tenth^Cam of everything I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector, standing far off,^an would not even raise his eyes to heaven^ao but kept striking his chest^ap and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me,^Daq a sinner!’^{ar 14}I tell you, this one went down to his house justified^as rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”^at

BLESSING THE CHILDREN

¹⁵People^au were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me,^av and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷Truly I tell you,^aw whoever does not receive^ax the kingdom of God like a little child^ay will never enter it.”

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

¹⁸A^az ruler^ba asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”^bb

¹⁹“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”^Ea

²¹“I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

²²When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor,^b and you will have treasure in heaven.^c Then come, follow me.”^d

²³After he heard this, he became extremely sad,^e because he was very rich.

POSSESSIONS AND THE KINGDOM

²⁴Seeing that he became sad,^F Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?”^f

²⁷He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”^g

²⁸Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed^h you.”

²⁹So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more at this time,ⁱ and eternal life in the age to come.”

THE THIRD PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH

³¹Then^j he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.^k Everything that is written^l through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.^{m 32}For he will be handed over to the Gentiles,ⁿ and he will be mocked,^o insulted, spit^p on; ³³and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”^q

³⁴They understood none of these things.^r The meaning of the saying^As was hidden^t from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

A BLIND MAN RECEIVES HIS SIGHT

³⁵As^u he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening. ³⁷“Jesus of Nazareth^v is passing by,” they told him.

³⁸So he called out,^w “Jesus, Son of David,^x have mercy^y on me!” ³⁹Then those in front told him to keep quiet,^B but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him, ⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”

⁴²“Receive your sight,”^z Jesus told him. “Your faith has saved you.”^{aa 43}Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God.^ab All the people,^ac when they saw it, gave praise to God.

JESUS VISITS ZACCHAEUS

19He entered Jericho and was passing through. ²There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. ⁴So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”

⁶So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully. ⁷All who saw it began to complain,^ad “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor,^ae Lord. And if I have extorted^af anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”^ag

⁹“Today salvation^ah has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.^{ai 10}For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”^aj

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN MINAS

¹¹As^ak they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem,^al and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.^am

¹²Therefore he said, “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return. ¹³He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas,^D and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵“At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business. ¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷“ ‘Well done, good^A servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful^a in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹“So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’

²⁰“And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth ²¹because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’^b

²²“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, ²³why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵“But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’

²⁶“ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.^{c 27}But bring here these enemies of mine,^d who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter^B them in my presence.’ ”

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

²⁸When^e he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.^{f 29}As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives,^g he sent two of the disciples ³⁰and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

³²So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them.^{h 33}As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴“The Lord needs it,” they said. ³⁵Thenⁱ they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it.^{j 36}As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.^{k 37}Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸Blessed is the King^l who comes

in the name of the Lord.^Cm

Peace in heaven

and gloryⁿ in the highest heaven!^o

³⁹Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”^p

JESUS’S LOVE FOR JERUSALEM

⁴¹As he approached and saw the city, he wept^q for it, ⁴²saying, “If you knew^r this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden^s from your eyes. ⁴³For the days will come on you^t when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.^{u 44}They will crush you and your children among you to the ground,^v and they will not leave one stone on another^w in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”^x

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

⁴⁵He^y went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,^{A 46}and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer,^z but you have made it a den of thieves!”^Baa

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching^ab in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill^ac him, ⁴⁸but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people^ad were captivated by what they…