Chapter 18

Parables on Prayer

1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they aought to pray and not to blose heart,

2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not arespect man.

3 “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘1Give me legal protection from my opponent.’

4 “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor arespect man,

5 yet abecause this widow bothers me, I will 1give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will 2bwear me out.’ ”

6 And athe Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge * said;

7 now, will not God abring about justice for His belect who cry to Him day and night, 1and will He cdelay long over them?

8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, awill He find 1faith on the earth?”

The Pharisee and the Publican

9 And He also told this parable to some people who atrusted in themselves that they were righteous, and bviewed others with contempt:

10 “Two men awent up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 “The Pharisee astood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 ‘I afast twice a week; I bpay tithes of all that I get.’

13 “But the tax collector, astanding some distance away, bwas even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but cwas beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be 1merciful to me, the sinner!’

14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; afor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

15 aAnd they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

17 “Truly I say to you, awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

The Rich Young Ruler

18 aA ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

20 “You know the commandments, ‘aDo not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”

21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; asell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “aHow hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

25 “For ait is easier for a camel to 1go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”

27 But He said, “aThe things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

28 Peter said, “Behold, awe have left 1our own homes and followed You.”

29 And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, athere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,

30 who will not receive many times as much at this time and in athe age to come, eternal life.”

31 aThen He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, bwe are going up to Jerusalem, and call things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

32 “aFor He will be 1handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,

33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

34 But athe disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Bartimaeus Receives Sight

35 aAs 1bJesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.

36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was.

37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, aSon of David, have mercy on me!”

39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “aSon of David, have mercy on me!”

40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him,

41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”

42 And Jesus said to him, “1Receive your sight; ayour faith has 2made you well.”

43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, aglorifying God; and when ball the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

Chapter 19

Zaccheus Converted

1 He aentered Jericho and was passing through.

2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.

3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a 1asycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

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

6 And he hurried and came down and received Him 1gladly.

7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone 1to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

8 Zaccheus stopped and said to athe Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I 1will give to the poor, and if I have bdefrauded anyone of anything, I 1will give back cfour times as much.”

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is aa son of Abraham.

10 “For athe Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Parable of Money Usage

11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because aHe was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that bthe kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

12 So He said, “aA nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.

13 “And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten 1minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this 2until I come back.’

14 “But his citizens hated him and sent 1a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

15 “When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.

16 “The first appeared, saying, ‘1Master, your 2mina has made ten minas more.’

17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been afaithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your 1mina, 2master, has made five minas.’

19 “And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

20 “Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;

21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’

22 “He * said to him, ‘1By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?

23 ‘Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’

24 “Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

25 “And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’

26 “aI tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.

27 “But athese enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and bslay them in my presence.”

Triumphal Entry

28 After He had said these things, He awas going on ahead, bgoing up to Jerusalem.

29 aWhen He approached Bethphage and bBethany, near the 1mount that is called cOlivet, He sent two of the disciples,

30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

31 “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them.

33 As they were untying the colt, its 1owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They said, “The Lord has need of it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, aand they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.

36 As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road.

37 As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of athe Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to bpraise God 1joyfully with a loud voice for all the 2miracles which they had seen,

38 shouting:

“aBlessed is the bKing who comes in the name of the Lord;

Peace in heaven and cglory in the highest!”

39 aSome of the Pharisees 1in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, athe stones will cry out!”

41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and awept over it,

42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

43 “For the days will come upon you 1when your enemies will athrow up a 2barricade against you, and bsurround you and hem you in on every side,

44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and athey will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize bthe time of your visitation.”

Traders Driven from the Temple

45 aJesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling,

46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘aAnd My house shall be a house of prayer,’ bbut you have made it a robbers’ 1den.”

47 And aHe was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people bwere trying to destroy Him,

48 and they could not find 1anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to 2every word He said.

Chapter 20

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

1 aOn one of the days while bHe was teaching the people in the temple and cpreaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders dconfronted Him,

2 and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

3 Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a 1question, and you tell Me:

4 “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

5 They reasoned among themselves, 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, for they are convinced that John was a aprophet.”

7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Nor 1will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

9 aAnd He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to 1vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.

10 “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

11 “And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

12 “And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.

13 “The 1owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will arespect him.’

14 “But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’

15 “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the 1owner of the vineyard do to them?

16 “He will come and adestroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “bMay it never be!”

17 But 1Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

‘aThe stone which the builders rejected,

This became bthe chief corner stone’?

18 “aEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Tribute to Caesar

19 The scribes and the chief priests atried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them.

20 aSo they watched Him, and sent spies who 1pretended to be righteous, in order bthat they might 2catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of cthe governor.

21 They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You 1are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.

22 “Is it 1lawful for us ato pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

23 But He detected their trickery and said to them,

24 “Show Me a 1denarius. Whose 2likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.”

25 And He said to them, “Then arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

26 And they were unable to 1acatch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

Is There a Resurrection?

27 aNow there came to Him some of the bSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection),

28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that aif a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should 1marry the wife and raise up children to his brother.

29 “Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless;

30 and the second

31 and the third 1married her; and in the same way 2all seven 3died, leaving no children.

32 “Finally the woman died also.

33 “In the resurrection therefore, which one’s wife will she be? For 1all seven 2had married her.”

34 Jesus said to them, “The sons of athis age marry and are given in marriage,

35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to athat age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

36 for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are asons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

37 “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in athe passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord bthe God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

38 “aNow He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ball live to Him.”

39 Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.”

40 For athey did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything.

41 aThen He said to them, “How is it that they say 1the Christ is bDavid’s son?

42 “For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘aThe Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

43 aUntil I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’

44 “Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?”

45 aAnd while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples,

46 “Beware of the scribes, awho like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

47 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”