THE PARABLE OF THE PERSISTENT WIDOW

18 Now he told them a parable on the need for them to prays always and not give up.t 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear Godu or respect people. 3 And a widow vin that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keepsw pestering me,G I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me outH by her persistent coming.’ ”

6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justicex to his electy who cry out to him day and night?z Will he delayaa helping them?A 8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,ab will he find faith on earth?”

THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR

9 Heac also told this parable to some who trusted in themselvesad that they were righteousae and looked downaf on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray,ag one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standingah and praying like this about himself:B ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy,ai unrighteous,aj adulterers,ak or even like this tax collector. 12 I fastal twice a week; I give a tenthC,am of everything I get.’

13 “But the tax collector, standing far off,an would not even raise his eyes to heavenao but kept striking his chestap and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me,D,aq a sinner!’ar 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justifiedas rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”at

BLESSING THE CHILDREN

15 Peopleau were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me,av and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you,aw whoever does not receiveax the kingdom of God like a little childay will never enter it.”

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

18 Aaz rulerba asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”bb

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”E,a

21 “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

22 When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor,b and you will have treasure in heaven.c Then come, follow me.”d

23 After he heard this, he became extremely sad,e because he was very rich.

POSSESSIONS AND THE KINGDOM

24 Seeing that he became sad,F Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?”f

27 He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”g

28 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followedh you.”

29 So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more at this time,i and eternal life in the age to come.”

THE THIRD PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH

31 Thenj he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.k Everything that is writtenl through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.m 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles,n and he will be mocked,o insulted, spitp on; 33 and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”q

34 They understood none of these things.r The meaning of the sayingA,s was hiddent from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

A BLIND MAN RECEIVES HIS SIGHT

35 Asu he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening. 37 “Jesus of Nazarethv is passing by,” they told him.

38 So he called out,w “Jesus, Son of David,x have mercyy on me!” 39 Then those in front told him to keep quiet,B but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

40 Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”

42 “Receive your sight,”z Jesus told him. “Your faith has saved you.”aa 43 Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God.ab All the people,ac when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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,ad “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,ae Lord. And if I have extortedaf anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”ag

9 “Today salvationah has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.ai 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”aj

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN MINAS

11 Asak they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem,al and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.am

12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king* and then to return. 13 He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas,D 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, goodA servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithfula 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.’b

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.c 27 But bring here these enemies of mine,d who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughterB them in my presence.’ ”

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

28 Whene he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.f 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives,g 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.h 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 Theni they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it.j 36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.k 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 Kingl who comes

in the name of the Lord.C,m

Peace in heaven

and gloryn in the highest heaven!o

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.”p

JESUS’S LOVE FOR JERUSALEM

41 As he approached and saw the city, he weptq for it, 42 saying, “If you knewr this day what would bring peace—but now it is hiddens from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on yout when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.u 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground,v and they will not leave one stone on anotherw in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”x

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

45 Hey went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,A 46 and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer,z but you have made it a den of thieves!”B,aa

47 Every day he was teachingab in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to killac him, 48 but they could not find a way to do it, because all the peoplead were captivated by what they heard.

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED

20 Oneae day as he was teachingaf the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news,ag the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders,ah came 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”

3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the peoplea will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”b 7 So they answered that they did not know its origin.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD OWNER

9 Nowc he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,d leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent yet another servant, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my belovede son. PerhapsC they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’f 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and killg those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”

But when they heard this they said, “That must never happen!”h

17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:A,i

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone?B,j

18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”k

19 Then the scribes and the chief priestsl looked for a way to get their hands on himm that very hour, because they knew he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.n

GOD AND CAESAR

20 Theyo watched closelyp and sent spiesq who pretended to be righteous,C so that they could catch him in what he said,r to hand hims over to the governor’st rule and authority. 21 They questioned him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly,u and you don’t show partialityD,v but teach truthfully the way of God.w 22 Is it lawfulx for us to pay taxesy to Caesarz or not?”

23 But detecting their craftiness, he said to them,E 24 “Show me a denarius.F Whose image and inscription does it have?”

“Caesar’s,” they said.

25 “Well then,” he told them, “give to Caesaraa the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

26 They were not able to catch him in what he said in public, and being amazed at his answer, they became silent.ab

THE SADDUCEES AND THE RESURRECTION

27 Someac of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,ad came up and questioned him: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.G,ae 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the secondH 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”

34 Jesus told them, “The children of this ageaf marry and are given in marriage.ag 35 But those who are counted worthyah to take part in that ageai and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they can no longer die,aj because they are like angels and are children of God,ak since they are children of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.I,al 38 He is not the God of the dead but of the living, because all are living toJ him.”am

39 Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

THE QUESTION ABOUT THE MESSIAH

41 Thenan he said to them, “How can they say that the Messiah is the son of David?ao 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms:a

The Lord declared to my Lord,

‘Sit at my right hand

43 until I make your enemies your footstool.’A,b

44 David calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can the Messiah be his son?”c

WARNING AGAINST THE SCRIBES

45 Whiled all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, 46 “Bewaree of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.f 47 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”B