Visiting Zacchaeus in Jericho

19 Now Yeshua entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And here was a man by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ Zacchaeus was trying to see who Yeshua was, but he couldn’t because of the crowd, for he was short in height. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Yeshua, for He was about to pass through that way.

⁵ When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

⁶ Zacchaeus hurried and came down and welcomed Him joyfully.

⁷ But when everyone saw it, they began to grumble, saying, “Yeshua has gone to be the guest of a sinner!”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord. “Look, Master, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have somehow cheated anyone, I repay four times as much!”^[a]

⁹ Then Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this home, because he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

¹¹ As they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they supposed that the kingdom of God was about to appear at once. ¹² Therefore He said, “A certain nobleman went to a faraway land to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³ And calling ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas^[b] and said to them, ‘Do business until I come back.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens detested him and they sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this fellow to reign over us!’ ¹⁵ When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he called for those slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much business they had done. ¹⁶ Now the first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your one mina has made ten.’ ¹⁷ The master said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you were faithful with so little, take charge over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ Also, the second slave came, saying, ‘Your mina, Master, made five.’ ¹⁹ Then he also said to this one, ‘You are likewise over five cities.’ ²⁰ But another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina. I was keeping it safe in a handkerchief, ²¹ for I was afraid of you because you are a strict man. You take what you did not make and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He said to him, ‘By the words of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked slave! You knew that I am strict, taking what I did not make and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I came back I could have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ Then to the bystanders he said, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas!’ ²⁶ ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more shall be given. But from the one who doesn’t have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ²⁷ But those hostile to me, who didn’t want me to reign over them, bring them here and execute them before me.’”

Riding into Jerusalem

²⁸ After saying these things, Yeshua was going on ahead, up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ When He got near Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives,^[c] He sent two of the disciples, ³⁰ saying, “Go into the village ahead. As you enter, you will find a colt tied up, that no one has ever sat upon. Untie it and bring it. ³¹ And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Master needs it.’”

³² Those who were headed out found things just as He told them. ³³ Then as they were untying the colt, his owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴ They said, “The Master needs it.” ³⁵ Then they brought it to Yeshua, threw their cloaks^[d] on the colt, and set Yeshua on it. ^{[e] 36} And as He went along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road. ^{[f] 37} When Yeshua came near the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to rejoice. They praised God with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen, ³⁸ saying,

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

⁴⁰ But answering, Yeshua said, “I tell you that if these keep silent, the stones will shout out!”^[h]

⁴¹ As He drew near and saw Jerusalem, He wept over her, ⁴² saying, “If only you had recognized this day the things that lead to shalom! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will surround you with barricades and hem you in on all sides. ^{[i] 44} And they will smash you to the ground—you and your children within you. And they won’t leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Confrontation at the Temple

⁴⁵ Then Yeshua entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written,

‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’^[j]

but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”^[k]

⁴⁷ And He was teaching every day in the Temple. The ruling kohanim and the Torah scholars, even the leaders of the people, were trying to destroy Him; ⁴⁸ but they could not find any way to do it, because all the people were hanging on His words.