Luke 19
EasyEnglish Bible
Zacchaeus meets Jesus
19 Jesus went into Jericho and he was walking through the city. 2 There was a man there called Zacchaeus. He was a leader of the men who took taxes from people. He had become very rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was. There was a big crowd there and he was a small man. So he could not see Jesus. 4 He ran on in front of the crowd and he climbed up a tree. He could see Jesus more easily from the tree, because Jesus would walk along that way. 5 When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up at Zacchaeus. He said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down quickly. Today I must stay in your home.’
6 So Zacchaeus came down immediately and took Jesus into his home. He was very happy about this. 7 The people saw what had happened. They were not happy, and they were saying, ‘Jesus has gone to stay in the home of a man that does bad things.’
8 Later, Zacchaeus stood up in front of everyone. He said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Listen, Master! I will give half of all the things that I have to poor people. I may have taken too much money from some people. I will give back to them four times as much as I took from them wrongly.’
9 Jesus said to him, ‘Today God has saved people in this home. Now Zacchaeus also belongs to the family of Abraham. 10 I, the Son of Man, came to look for people who are far away from God. They are in danger and I have come to save them.’
Jesus tells a story about 10 servants
11 While the people were still listening, Jesus told them a story. He did this because the people had wrong thoughts. He was now getting near to Jerusalem. So the people with him were thinking that God would begin to rule his people immediately.
12 Jesus said to them, ‘An important man left his home and he travelled a long way to another country. There he would receive authority to rule his own country. After that, he would return home and he would be king. 13 Before he left, he asked ten of his servants to come to him. He gave each of them ten pounds of silver.[a] “Use this money to get more money for me while I am away,” he said.[b]
14 But the people who were living in his country did not like the man. So they sent some of their people to the foreign country with a message. They said, “We do not want this man to rule over us.”
15 Then the man returned home and he was now their king. He asked those ten servants to come to him. He had given them each some money. Now he wanted to know how much more money they had now. They should have bought things with it and then they should have sold those things again for more money.
16 The first servant came to him and said, “Master, your money has made ten more pounds for you.” 17 The king was happy and said to his servant, “You have done well. You are a good servant that I can trust. You have used a small amount of money well. So now you will rule over ten cities.”
18 The second servant came and said, “Master, your money has made five more pounds.” 19 The king replied, “You will rule over five cities.”
20 Then another servant came. He said, “Master, here is your money. I put it away in a piece of cloth to keep it safe. 21 I did this because I was afraid of you. You tell people what they should do all the time. You take things that you did not work for. You take food from fields where you did not plant any seed.”
22 The king replied, “You are a very bad servant! I will use your own words to show you that you have done the wrong thing. You say that I tell people what they should do all the time. That I take things that I did not work for. That I take food from fields where I did not plant any seed. Did you know all that about me? 23 Then you should have put my money into the bank. When I came home, I would have received my money back, with extra money.”
24 Some other servants were standing near to their master. He said to them, “Take the money from this bad servant. Give it to the servant that has ten pounds.” 25 “But, master,” they replied, “that servant has ten pounds already.”
26 “Let me tell you this,” the king said. “Some people have received good things. They will all receive more. Some other people have nothing. Those people will lose even the little bit that they do have. 27 Now I must punish these other people that did not want me to rule over them. Bring them here and kill them in front of me.” ’[c]
Jesus goes into Jerusalem
28 When Jesus had said all this, he went on in front of them. He was going towards Jerusalem. 29 He was getting near to two villages called Bethphage and Bethany.[d] They were on the Mount of Olives.[e] Then Jesus sent two of his disciples to go further. 30 He told them, ‘Go into the village that is in front of you. When you arrive there, you will find a young donkey. Someone has tied it there. Nobody has yet ridden on it. Undo the rope and bring the donkey here to me. 31 Someone may ask you, “Why are you taking the donkey?” Then say to them, “The Master needs it.” ’
32 The two men went into the village. They saw everything there that Jesus had told them about. 33 While they were taking the young donkey, some men spoke to them. It was their own donkey. They asked, ‘Why are you taking the donkey?’ 34 ‘The Master needs it,’ the disciples replied.
35 They brought the donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on its back. Then they helped Jesus to sit on it. 36 While he was riding along, the people were putting their coats down on the road in front of him.
37 Jesus got near to the lowest part of the Mount of Olives. The whole crowd of his disciples were very happy. They began to praise God with loud voices. They thanked him for all the great things that they had seen. 38 They said:
‘May the Lord God bless the king who comes with his authority!
We want everything to be well in heaven. We praise our powerful God above!’
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, stop your disciples from saying these things.’
40 ‘Let me tell you this,’ Jesus replied. ‘If these people were quiet, the stones of the city would shout out instead!’
41 When Jesus got near to the city, he looked at it. He cried because he felt very sorry for the people in it. 42 He said, ‘You need to know what would really help you. Then you could have lived without trouble. But now, you are unable to understand properly. 43 As a result, days of trouble will come to you. Your enemies will build a wall round you. They will shut you in completely, and they will not let you leave. 44 So your enemies will knock you down. They will completely destroy your city and all the people who live in it. They will not leave even one stone on top of another stone. You did not understand that God had come to save you at this time. That is why these bad things will happen to you.’[f]
Jesus teaches in the temple
45 Jesus went into the yard of the temple. Some people were selling things there. He began to make them all leave that place. 46 He said to them, ‘The Bible says, “God's house will be a place where people come to pray.” But you have changed it into a place where robbers meet.’
47 Jesus was teaching every day in the temple. The leaders of the priests and teachers of God's Law wanted to kill him. Some other important people also wanted to kill him. 48 But all the people were listening to him very carefully. They wanted to hear everything that he was saying. So those leaders did not know how they could kill him.
Footnotes
- 19:13 A man would receive 10 pounds of silver if he worked for 100 days. It was a lot of money.
- 19:13 Jesus was telling people that God gives gifts to us. We must use the gifts that he gives to us. One day we will have to tell him how we used them. Some people may not have used them. He will say that those people have done the wrong thing.
- 19:27 In the picture story, Jesus tells them that he is going away. And he tells them that he will return. The people that do not want Jesus to rule over them now will meet him again. Jesus was telling them what would happen to those people.
- 19:29 Bethphage and Bethany were on the east side of the Mount of Olives.
- 19:29 The Mount of Olives is very near Jerusalem, on the east side of the city. Many olive trees grow on it.
- 19:44 The people did not understand that Jesus had come from God with his authority. He had come to save them. Because they did not understand this, enemies would destroy their city. This happened about 40 years later. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year AD 70.
Luke 19
King James Version
19 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at 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 mighty works that they had seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
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