Luke 18–19

God Will Answer His People

18Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. ²“In a certain town there was a judge who did not respect God or care about people. ³In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me my rights against my enemy.’ ⁴For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about people, ⁵I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.’ ”

⁶The Lord said, “Listen to what the unfair judge said. ⁷God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them. ⁸I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find those on earth who believe in him?”

Being Right with God

⁹Jesus told this story to some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else: ¹⁰“A Pharisee and a tax collector both went to the Temple to pray. ¹¹The Pharisee stood alone and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people who steal, cheat, or take part in adultery, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast ⁿ twice a week, and I give one-tenth of everything I get!’

¹³“The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even look up to heaven. But he beat on his chest because he was so sad. He said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴I tell you, when this man went home, he was right with God, but the Pharisee was not. All who make themselves great will be made humble, but all who make themselves humble will be made great.”

Who Will Enter God’s Kingdom?

¹⁵Some people brought even their babies to Jesus so he could touch them. When the followers saw this, they told them to stop. ¹⁶But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. ¹⁷I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enter it.”

A Rich Man’s Question

¹⁸A certain leader asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁹Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ²⁰You know the commands: ‘You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. Honor your father and mother.’ ” ⁿ

²¹But the leader said, “I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”

²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” ²³But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴Jesus looked at him and said, “It is very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Who Can Be Saved?

²⁶When the people heard this, they asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus answered, “The things impossible for people are possible for God.”

²⁸Peter said, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, wives, brothers, parents, or children for the kingdom of God ³⁰will get much more in this life. And in the age that is coming, they will have life forever.”

Jesus Will Rise from the Dead

³¹Then Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and said to them, “We are going to Jerusalem. Everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will happen. ³²He will be turned over to those who are evil. They will laugh at him, insult him, spit on him, ³³beat him with whips, and kill him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again.” ³⁴The apostles did not understand this; the meaning was hidden from them, and they did not realize what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

³⁵As Jesus came near the city of Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging. ³⁶When he heard the people coming down the road, he asked, “What is happening?”

³⁷They told him, “Jesus, from Nazareth, is going by.”

³⁸The blind man cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹The people leading the group warned the blind man to be quiet. But the blind man shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, I want to see.”

⁴²Jesus said to him, “Then see. You are healed because you believed.”

⁴³At once the man was able to see, and he followed Jesus, thanking God. All the people who saw this praised God.

Zacchaeus Meets Jesus

19Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy. ³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because he was too short to see above the crowd. ⁴He ran ahead to a place where Jesus would come, and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. ⁵When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”

⁶Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. ⁷All the people saw this and began to complain, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham. ¹⁰The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

A Story About Three Servants

¹¹As the people were listening to this, Jesus told them a story because he was near Jerusalem and they thought God’s kingdom would appear immediately. ¹²He said: “A very important man went to a country far away to be made a king and then to return home. ¹³So he called ten of his servants and gave a coin ⁿ to each servant. He said, ‘Do business with this money until I get back.’ ¹⁴But the people in the kingdom hated the man. So they sent a group to follow him and say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵“But the man became king. When he returned home, he said, ‘Call those servants who have my money so I can know how much they earned with it.’

¹⁶“The first servant came and said, ‘Sir, I earned ten coins with the one you gave me.’ ¹⁷The king said to the servant, ‘Excellent! You are a good servant. Since I can trust you with small things, I will let you rule over ten of my cities.’

¹⁸“The second servant said, ‘Sir, I earned five coins with your one.’ ¹⁹The king said to this servant, ‘You can rule over five cities.’

²⁰“Then another servant came in and said to the king, ‘Sir, here is your coin which I wrapped in a piece of cloth and hid. ²¹I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You even take money that you didn’t earn and gather food that you didn’t plant.’ ²²Then the king said to the servant, ‘I will condemn you by your own words, you evil servant. You knew that I am a hard man, taking money that I didn’t earn and gathering food that I didn’t plant. ²³Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then when I came back, my money would have earned some interest.’

²⁴“The king said to the men who were standing by, ‘Take the coin away from this servant and give it to the servant who earned ten coins.’ ²⁵They said, ‘But sir, that servant already has ten coins.’ ²⁶The king said, ‘Those who have will be given more, but those who do not have anything will have everything taken away from them. ²⁷Now where are my enemies who didn’t want me to be king? Bring them here and kill them before me.’ ”

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

²⁸After Jesus said this, he went on toward Jerusalem. ²⁹As Jesus came near Bethphage and Bethany, towns near the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent out two of his followers. ³⁰He said, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. ³¹If anyone asks you why you are untying it, say that the Master needs it.”

³²The two followers went into town and found the colt just as Jesus had told them. ³³As they were untying it, its owners came out and asked the followers, “Why are you untying our colt?”

³⁴The followers answered, “The Master needs it.” ³⁵So they brought it to Jesus, threw their coats on the colt’s back, and put Jesus on it. ³⁶As Jesus rode toward Jerusalem, others spread their coats on the road before him.

³⁷As he was coming close to Jerusalem, on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of followers began joyfully shouting praise to God for all the miracles they had seen. ³⁸They said,

“God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord!

There is peace in heaven and glory to God!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell your followers not to say these things.”

⁴⁰But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if my followers didn’t say these things, then the stones would cry out.”

Jesus Cries for Jerusalem

⁴¹As Jesus came near Jerusalem, he saw the city and cried for it, ⁴²saying, “I wish you knew today what would bring you peace. But now it is hidden from you. ⁴³The time is coming when your enemies will build a wall around you and will hold you in on all sides. ⁴⁴They will destroy you and all your people, and not one stone will be left on another. All this will happen because you did not recognize the time when God came to save you.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple

⁴⁵Jesus went into the Temple and began to throw out the people who were selling things there. ⁴⁶He said, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house for prayer.’ ⁿ But you have changed it into a ‘hideout for robbers’!” ⁿ

⁴⁷Jesus taught in the Temple every day. The leading priests,…