Luke 19

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²And there was a man there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was very wealthy. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore-fig tree so that he could see him, because Jesus was about to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶So he hurried down and welcomed him with joy. ⁷When the people saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Half of my possessions I am now giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone by false accusation, I am restoring it fourfold.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

¹¹While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. ¹²He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. ¹³He called ten of his own slaves and gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ ¹⁴But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be called to him, so that he might know what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Lord, your mina has earned ten more minas.’ ¹⁷He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, take authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸The second came and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹He said to him also, ‘And you, be over five cities.’

²⁰Then the other one came and said, ‘Lord, look, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief. ²¹For I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ ²²He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? ²³Then why did you not put my money in the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.’

²⁴Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ ²⁵(And they said to him, ‘Lord, he already has ten minas!’) ²⁶‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given; but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.’”

²⁸After he had said these things, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, which no one has ever sat upon. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”

³²So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. ³³As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?” ³⁴They said, “The Lord has need of it.” ³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the donkey, they helped Jesus onto it. ³⁶As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

³⁷As he was now approaching the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the deeds of power they had seen, ³⁸saying: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” ³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” ⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if these are silent, the stones will cry out.”

⁴¹As he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴²saying, “If you had only known on this day—even you—the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things, ⁴⁶saying to them, “It is written: ‘And my house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘cave of bandits.’”

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to destroy him, ⁴⁸but they could not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his every word.