NETtext - Luke - 19

19:1  Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it.

19:2  Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.

19:3  He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd.

19:4  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way.

19:5  And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today."

19:6  So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully.

19:7  And when the people saw it, they all complained, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

19:8  But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!"

19:9  Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham!

19:10  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

19:11  While the people were listening to these things, Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

19:12  Therefore he said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

19:13  And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business with these until I come back.'

19:14  But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!'

19:15  When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading.

19:16  So the first one came before him and said, 'Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.'

19:17  And the king said to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.'

19:18  Then the second one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has made five minas.'

19:19  So the king said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.'

19:20  Then another slave came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth.

19:21  For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.'

19:22  The king said to him, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, withdrawing what I didn't deposit and reaping what I didn't sow?

19:23  Why then didn't you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?'

19:24  And he said to his attendants, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.'

19:25  But they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten minas already!'

19:26  'I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

19:27  But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!'"

19:28  After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

19:29  Now when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,

19:30  telling them, "Go to the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

19:31  If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say, 'The Lord needs it.'"

19:32  So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them.

19:33  As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying that colt?"

19:34  They replied, "The Lord needs it."

19:35  Then they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it.

19:36  As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

19:37  As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen:

19:38  "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

19:39  But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."

19:40  He answered, "I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!"

19:41  Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it,

19:42  saying, "If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

19:43  For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.

19:44  They will demolish you - you and your children within your walls - and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."

19:45  Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there,

19:46  saying to them, "It is written, 'My house will be a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of robbers!"

19:47  Jesus was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate him,

19:48  but they could not find a way to do it, for all the people hung on his words.