¹¹Jesus was getting closer to Jerusalem, and the people thought that God’s kingdom would appear suddenly. While Jesus had the people’s attention, he used this illustration. ¹²He said, “A prince went to a distant country to be appointed king, and then he returned. ¹³⸤Before he left,⸥ he called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He said to his servants, ‘Invest this money until I come back.’

¹⁴“The citizens of his own country hated him. They sent representatives to follow him and say ⸤to the person who was going to appoint him⸥, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵“After he was appointed king, he came back. Then he said, ‘Call those servants to whom I gave money. I want to know how much each one has made by investing.’

¹⁶“The first servant said, ‘Sir, the coin you gave me has earned ten times as much.’

¹⁷“The king said to him, ‘Good job! You’re a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities.’

¹⁸“The second servant said, ‘The coin you gave me, sir, has made five times as much.’

¹⁹“The king said to this servant, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

²⁰“Then the other servant said, ‘Sir, look! Here’s your coin. I’ve kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because ²¹I was afraid of you. You’re a tough person to get along with. You take what isn’t yours and harvest grain you haven’t planted.’

²²“The king said to him, ‘I’ll judge you by what you’ve said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn’t mine and harvest grain I haven’t planted. ²³Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴The king told his men, ‘Take his coin away, and give it to the man who has ten.’

²⁵“They replied, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins.’

²⁶“ ‘I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much. ²⁷Bring my enemies, who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me.’ ”

The King Comes to Jerusalem—Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; John 12:12–19

²⁸After Jesus had given this illustration, he continued on his way to Jerusalem.

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