Luke 17:11-19:28

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samar′ia and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;^{[a] 21} nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[b]

²² And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. ²³ And they will say to you, ‘Lo, there!’ or ‘Lo, here!’ Do not go, do not follow them. ²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day.^{[c] 25} But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man. ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise as it was in the days of Lot—they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, ²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”^{[d] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the eagles^[e] will be gathered together.”

The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

18 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; ³ and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹⁵ Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁷ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

The Rich Ruler

¹⁸ And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” ²² And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²³ But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich. ²⁴ Jesus looking at him said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” ²⁸ And Peter said, “Lo, we have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³¹ And taking the twelve, he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³² For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; ³³ they will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴ But they understood none of these things; this saying was hid from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar Near Jericho

³⁵ As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; ³⁶ and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19 He entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And there was a man named Zacchae′us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. ³ And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchae′us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. ⁷ And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ⁸ And Zacchae′us stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” ⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Pounds

¹¹ As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. ¹² He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power^[f] and then return. ¹³ Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds,^[g] and said to them, ‘Trade with these till I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ ¹⁵ When he returned, having received the kingly power,^[h] he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶ The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ ¹⁹ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ ²⁰ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; ²¹ for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He said to him, ‘I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.’ ²⁵ (And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) ²⁶ ‘I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.’”

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

²⁸ And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.