Luke 19
Contemporary English Version
Zacchaeus
19 Jesus was going through Jericho, 2 where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes[a] and was very rich. 3-4 Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.
5 When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” 6 Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.
7 Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”
8 Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much[b] to everyone I have ever cheated.”
9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved,[c] because you are a true son of Abraham.[d] 10 (A) The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.”
A Story about Ten Servants
(Matthew 25.14-30)
11 (B) The crowd was still listening to Jesus as he was getting close to Jerusalem. Many of them thought that God's kingdom would soon appear, 12 and Jesus told them this story:
A prince once went to a foreign country to be crowned king and then to return. 13 But before leaving, he called in ten servants and gave each of them some money. He told them, “Use this to earn more money until I get back.”
14 But the people of his country hated him, and they sent messengers to the foreign country to say, “We don't want this man to be our king.”
15 After the prince had been made king, he returned and called in his servants. He asked them how much they had earned with the money they had been given.
16 The first servant came and said, “Sir, with the money you gave me I have earned ten times as much.”
17 “That's fine, my good servant!” the king said. “Since you have shown that you can be trusted with a small amount, you will be given ten cities to rule.”
18 The second one came and said, “Sir, with the money you gave me, I have earned five times as much.”
19 The king said, “You will be given five cities.”
20 Another servant came and said, “Sir, here is your money. I kept it safe in a handkerchief. 21 You are a hard man, and I was afraid of you. You take what isn't yours, and you harvest crops you didn't plant.”
22 “You worthless servant!” the king told him. “You have condemned yourself by what you have just said. You knew I am a hard man, taking what isn't mine and harvesting what I've not planted. 23 Why didn't you put my money in the bank? On my return, I could have had the money together with interest.”
24 Then he said to some other servants standing there, “Take the money away from him and give it to the servant who earned ten times as much.”
25 But they said, “Sir, he already has ten times as much!”
26 (C) The king replied, “Those who have something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don't have anything. 27 Now bring me the enemies who didn't want me to be their king. Kill them while I watch!”
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
(Matthew 21.1-11; Mark 11.1-11; John 12.12-19)
28 When Jesus had finished saying all this, he went on toward Jerusalem. 29 As he was getting near Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead. 30 He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie the donkey and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks why you are doing this, just say, ‘The Lord[e] needs it.’ ”
32 They went off and found everything just as Jesus had said. 33 While they were untying the donkey, its owners asked, “Why are you doing that?”
34 They answered, “The Lord[f] needs it.”
35 Then they led the donkey to Jesus. They put some of their clothes on its back and helped Jesus get on. 36 And as he rode along, the people spread clothes on the road[g] in front of him. 37 When Jesus started down the Mount of Olives, his large crowd of disciples were happy and praised God because of all the miracles they had seen. 38 (D) They shouted,
“Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven
and glory to God.”
39 Some Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, make your disciples stop shouting!”
40 But Jesus answered, “If they keep quiet, these stones will start shouting.”
41 When Jesus came closer and could see Jerusalem, he cried 42 and said:
It is too bad that today your people don't know what will bring them peace! Now it is hidden from them. 43 Jerusalem, the time will come when your enemies will build walls around you to attack you. Armies will surround you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will level you to the ground and kill your people. Not one stone in your buildings will be left on top of another. This will happen because you did not see that God had come to save you.[h]
Jesus in the Temple
(Matthew 21.12-17; Mark 11.15-19; John 2.13-22)
45 When Jesus entered the temple, he started chasing out the people who were selling things. 46 (E) He told them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My house should be a place of worship.’ But you have made it a place where robbers hide!”
47 (F) Each day, Jesus kept on teaching in the temple. So the chief priests, the teachers of the Law of Moses, and some other important people tried to have him killed. 48 But they could not find a way to do it, because everyone else was eager to listen to him.
Footnotes
- 19.2 in charge of collecting taxes: See the note at 3.12.
- 19.8 pay back four times as much: Both Jewish and Roman law said that a person must pay back four times the amount that was taken.
- 19.9 saved: Zacchaeus was Jewish, but it is only now that he is rescued from sin and placed under God's care.
- 19.9 son of Abraham: As used in this verse, the words mean that Zacchaeus is truly one of God's special people.
- 19.31 The Lord: Or “The master of the donkey.”
- 19.34 The Lord: Or “The master of the donkey.”
- 19.36 spread clothes on the road: This was one way that the Jewish people welcomed a famous person.
- 19.44 that God had come to save you: The Jewish people looked for the time when God would come and rescue them from their enemies. But when Jesus came, many of them refused to obey him.
Luke 19
Christian Standard Bible
Jesus Visits Zacchaeus
19 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. 4 So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”
6 So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully. 7 All who saw it began to complain,(A) “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor,(B) Lord. And if I have extorted(C) anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”(D)
9 “Today salvation(E) has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.(F) 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”(G)
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 As(H) they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem,(I) and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.(J)
12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king[a] and then to return. 13 He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas,[b] and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’
15 “At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business. 16 The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’
17 “‘Well done, good[c] servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful(K) in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’
19 “So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’
20 “And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth 21 because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’(L)
22 “He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, 23 why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’ 24 So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’
26 “‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.(M) 27 But bring here these enemies of mine,(N) who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter[d] them in my presence.’”
The Triumphal Entry
28 When(O) he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.(P) 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives,(Q) he sent two of the disciples 30 and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them.(R) 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 “The Lord needs it,” they said. 35 Then(S) they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it.(T) 36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.(U) 37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
38 Blessed is the King(V) who comes
in the name of the Lord.[e](W)
Peace in heaven
and glory(X) in the highest heaven!(Y)
39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”(Z)
Jesus’s Love for Jerusalem
41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept(AA) for it, 42 saying, “If you knew(AB) this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden(AC) from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you(AD) when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.(AE) 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground,(AF) and they will not leave one stone on another(AG) in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”(AH)
Cleansing the Temple
45 He(AI) went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,[f] 46 and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer,(AJ) but you have made it a den of thieves!”[g](AK)
47 Every day he was teaching(AL) in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill(AM) him, 48 but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people(AN) were captivated by what they heard.
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