﻿Luke.
Chapter 19.
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 
There was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and was rich. 
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, because he was about to pass that way. 
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 
He hurried down and welcomed him with joy. 
Everyone who saw it grumbled, saying, “He has gone in to stay with a sinful man.” 
Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I repay it fourfold.” 
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” 
While they were listening to these things, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately. 
He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and return. 
He called ten of his slaves, gave them about ten pounds of silver, and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come.’ 
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 
When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered the slaves to whom he had given the money to be called, so that he might learn what they had gained by trading. 
The first came and said, ‘Master, your silver—about a pound—has earned about ten pounds.’ 
He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 
The second came and said, ‘Master, your silver—about a pound—has produced about five pounds.’ 
He said to this one also, ‘You too are to be over five cities.’ 
Another came and said, ‘Master, here is your silver, about a pound, which I kept stored in a cloth. 
For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ 
He said to him, ‘By your own mouth I judge you, wicked slave. Did you know that I am a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 
Then why did you not put my money in a bank? When I returned, I could have collected it with interest.’ 
He said to those standing there, ‘Take the silver from him, about a pound, and give it to the one who has about ten pounds.’ 
They said to him, ‘Master, he has about ten pounds!’ 
‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 
But bring here these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, and slaughter them before me.’” 
After saying this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mountain called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 
saying, “Go to the village opposite you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’” 
Those who were sent went and found it just as he had told them. 
As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 
They said, “The Lord needs it.” 
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and put Jesus on it. 
As he went along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 
As he drew near, already at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 
Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 
He answered, “I tell you, if these are silent, the stones will cry out.” 
As he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 
saying, “If only you too had known on this day what makes for peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. 
For days will come upon you when your enemies will raise a barricade against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 
They will dash you and your children within you to the ground, and will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” 
He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 
saying to them, “It is written, ‘And my house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” 
He was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were seeking to destroy him, 
but they could not find what to do, for all the people hung on his words, listening. 
