Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19 And he entered and^[a] traveled through Jericho. ² And there was^[b] a man named^[c] Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ And he was seeking to see Jesus—who he was—and he was not able to as a result of the crowd, because he was short in stature. ⁴ And he ran on ahead and^[d] climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to go through that way. ⁵ And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and^[e] said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary for me to stay at your house today!” ⁶ And he came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully. ⁷ And when they^[f] saw it,^[g] they all began to complain,^[h] saying, “He has gone in to find lodging with a man who is a sinner!” ⁸ And Zacchaeus stopped and^[i] said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying it^[j] back four times as much!” ⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹ Now while^[k] they were listening to these things, he went on and^[l] told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. ¹² Therefore he said, “A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ And summoning ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas^[m] and said to them, ‘Do business until I come back.’^{[n] 14} But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us!’ ¹⁵ And it happened that when he returned after^[o] receiving the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned to him, so that he could know what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶ So the first arrived, saying, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more!’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small thing, have authority^[p] over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ And the second came, saying, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ So he said to this one also, ‘And you be over five cities.’ ²⁰ And another came, saying, ‘Sir, behold your mina, which I had put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. ²¹ For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man—you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!’ ²² He said to him, ‘By your own words^[q] I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³ And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, when I^[r] returned, would have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ And to the bystanders he said, ‘Take away from him the mina and give it^[s] to the one who has the ten minas!’ ²⁵ And they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas.’ ²⁶ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷ But these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them^[t] here and slaughter them in my presence!’”

The Triumphal Entry

²⁸ And after he^[u] had said these things, he traveled on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ And it happened that when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, to the hill^[v] called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰ saying, ‘Go into the village in front of you, in which as you^[w] enter you will find a colt tied, on which no person has ever^[x] sat, and untie it and^[y] bring it.^{[z] 31} And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’^[aa] you will say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” ³² So those who were sent went and^[ab] found it^[ac] just as he had told them. ³³ And as^[ad] they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ ³⁴ So they said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ³⁵ And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they put Jesus on it. ³⁶ And as^[ae] he was going along, they were spreading out their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ Now as^[af] he was drawing near by this time to the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began rejoicing to praise God with a loud voice for all the miracles that they had seen, ³⁸ saying,

³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” ⁴⁰ And he answered and^[ah] said, “I tell you that^[ai] if these keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹ And when he approached and^[aj] saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known on this day—even you—the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For days will come upon you and your enemies will put up an embankment^[ak] against you, and will surround you and press you hard from all directions. ⁴⁴ And they will raze you to the ground, you and your children within you, and will not leave a stone upon a stone within you, because^[al] you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

The Cleansing of the Temple

⁴⁵ And he entered into the temple courts^[am] and^[an] began to drive out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ‘And my house will be a house of prayer,’^[ao] but you have made it a cave of robbers!”

⁴⁷ And he was teaching every day in the temple courts,^[ap] and the chief priests and the scribes and the most prominent men of the people were seeking to destroy him. ⁴⁸ And they did not find anything they could do, because all the people were paying close attention to what they were hearing from him.

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

20 And it happened that on one of the days while^[aq] he was teaching the people in the temple courts^[ar] and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders ² and said, saying to him, “Tell us, by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority? ³ And he answered and^[as] said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? ⁵ And they discussed this^[at] with one another, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ And they replied that they did not know where it was from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard

⁹ And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man^[au] planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ And at the proper time he sent a slave to the tenant farmers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers sent him away empty-handed after^[av] beating him.^{[aw] 11} And he proceeded to send another slave, but they beat and dishonored that one also, and^[ax] sent him^[ay] away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third, but they wounded and^[az] threw out this one also. ¹³ So the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when^[ba] the tenant farmers saw him, they began to reason^[bb] with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will become ours!’ ¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and^[bc] killed him.^[bd] What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.” And when they^[be] heard this,^[bf] they said, “May this never happen!” ¹⁷ But he looked intently at them and^[bg] said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!” ¹⁹ And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay their^[bi] hands on him at that same hour, and they were afraid of the people, for they knew that he had told this parable with reference to them.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

²⁰ And they watched him^[bj] closely and^[bk] sent spies who pretended they were upright, in order that they could catch him in a statement, so that they could hand him over to the authority and the jurisdiction of the governor. ²¹ And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and do not show partiality,^[bl] but teach the way of God in truth. ²² Is it permitted for us to pay taxes^[bm] to Caesar or not?” ²³ But seeing through their craftiness, he said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius! Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they answered and^[bn] said,^[bo] “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ So he said to them, “Well then, give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!” ²⁶ And they were not able to catch him^[bp][bq] in a statement in the sight of the people, and astonished at his answer, they became silent.

A Question About Marriage and the Resurrection

²⁷ Now some of the Sadducees—who deny that there is a resurrection^[br]—came up and^[bs] asked him, ²⁸ saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us if someone’s brother dies having a wife, and this man is childless, that his brother should take the wife and father^[bt] descendants for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and^[bu] died childless, ³⁰ and the second, ³¹ and the third took her, and likewise also the seven did not leave children and died. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore in the resurrection, the woman—whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, ³⁶ for they are not even able to die any longer, because they are like the angels and are sons of God, because they^[bv] are sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed in the passage about^[bw] the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him!” ³⁹ And some of the scribes answered and^[bx] said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For they no longer dared to ask him anything.

David’s Son and Lord

⁴¹ But he said to them, “In what sense do they say that the Christ is David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ David therefore calls him ‘Lord,’ and how is he his son?”

Warning to Beware of the Scribes

⁴⁵ And while^[bz] all the people were listening, he said to the disciples,^{[ca] 46} “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!”