Luke 19:11-27

GOD’S WORD Translation

A Story about a King

¹¹ Jesus was getting closer to Jerusalem, and the people thought that God’s kingdom would appear suddenly. While Jesus had the people’s attention, he used this illustration. ¹² He said, “A prince went to a distant country to be appointed king, and then he returned. ¹³ ⌞Before he left,⌟ he called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He said to his servants, ‘Invest this money until I come back.’

¹⁴ “The citizens of his own country hated him. They sent representatives to follow him and say ⌞to the person who was going to appoint him⌟, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “After he was appointed king, he came back. Then he said, ‘Call those servants to whom I gave money. I want to know how much each one has made by investing.’

¹⁶ “The first servant said, ‘Sir, the coin you gave me has earned ten times as much.’

¹⁷ “The king said to him, ‘Good job! You’re a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities.’

¹⁸ “The second servant said, ‘The coin you gave me, sir, has made five times as much.’

¹⁹ “The king said to this servant, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

²⁰ “Then the other servant said, ‘Sir, look! Here’s your coin. I’ve kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because ²¹ I was afraid of you. You’re a tough person to get along with. You take what isn’t yours and harvest grain you haven’t planted.’

²² “The king said to him, ‘I’ll judge you by what you’ve said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn’t mine and harvest grain I haven’t planted. ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴ The king told his men, ‘Take his coin away, and give it to the man who has ten.’

²⁵ “They replied, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins.’

²⁶ “ ‘I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much. ²⁷ Bring my enemies, who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me.’ ”