Luke 17:11–19:27

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem,f Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.g 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosyb h met him. They stood at a distancei 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master,j have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”k And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising Godl in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.m

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”n

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

17:26,27pp—Mt 24:37–39

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,o Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’p because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”c

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man,q but you will not see it.r 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.s 24 For the Son of Man in his dayd will be like the lightning,t which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many thingsu and be rejectedv by this generation.w

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah,x so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot.y People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.z 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.a 32 Remember Lot’s wife!b 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.c 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”d [36]e

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”e

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

The Little Children and Jesus

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

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

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

The Parable of the Ten Minas

19:12–27Ref—Mt 25:14–30

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…