Luke 19
19
Zacchaeus Meets Jesus
1Jesus 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 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! #Psalm 118:26
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.’ But you have changed it into a ‘hideout for robbers’!”
47Jesus taught in the Temple every day. The leading priests, the experts on the law, and some of the leaders of the people wanted to kill Jesus. 48But they did not know how they could do it, because all the people were listening closely to him.
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Luke 19: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.