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Jesus and Zacchaeus

¹ Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way. 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." ⁶ So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. 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." 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!" ⁹ Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham! ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

The Parable of the Ten Minas

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. ¹² Therefore he said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³ And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.' 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 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. ¹⁶ So the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.' 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.' ¹⁸ Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.' ¹⁹ So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.' ²⁰ Then another slave came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina that I 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 reap what you did not sow.' 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? ²³ Why then didn't you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?' ²⁴ And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.' ²⁵ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!' 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. 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!'"

The Triumphal Entry

²⁸ After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ Now when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 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. ³¹ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?' just say, ‘The Lord needs it.'" ³² So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying that colt?" ³⁴ They replied, "The Lord needs it." ³⁵ Then they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it. ³⁶ As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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: ³⁸ "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" ³⁹ But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." ⁴⁰ He answered, "I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!"

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

⁴¹ Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, 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. 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. 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."

Cleansing the Temple

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

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