19:1  He entered Jericho and passed through.

19:2  And there lived a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he served as a chief tax collector and he had become rich.

19:3  Zaccheus tried to see Jesus, but could not because of the crowd, for he had small stature.

19:4  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He would soon pass through that way.

19:5  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."

19:6  And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.

19:7  When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to become the guest of a man who we know as a sinner."

19:8  Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much."

19:9  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, demonstrates himself as a son of Abraham.

19:10  "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which had become lost."

19:11  While they listened to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He drew near to Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

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

19:13  "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business with this 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 reign over us.'

19:15  "When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to come before him so that he might know what business they had done.

19:16  "The first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas more.'

19:17  "And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have proven faithful in a very little thing, you will have authority over ten cities.'

19:18  "The second came, saying, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.'

19:19  "And he said to him also, 'And you will have authority over five cities.'

19:20  "Another came, saying, 'Master, I brought your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;

19:21  for I feared you, because you prove an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.'

19:22  "He said to him, 'By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I prove an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?

19:23  'Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?'

19:24  "Then he said to the bystanders, 'Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.'

19:25  "And they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas already.'

19:26  "I tell you that to everyone who has, I will give him more, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have I shall take away.

19:27  "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence."

19:28  After He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

19:29  When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that people call Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,

19:30  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.

19:31  "If anyone asks you, 'Why do you untie it?' you shall say, 'The Lord has need of it.'"

19:32  So those who Jesus sent went away and found it just as He had told them.

19:33  As they untied the colt, its owners said to them, "Why do you untie the colt?"

19:34  They said, "The Lord has need of it."

19:35  They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.

19:36  As He went, they spread their coats on the road.

19:37  As soon as He approached, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,

19:38  shouting: "WE BLESS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

19:39  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."

19:40  But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

19:41  When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

19:42  saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have become hidden from your eyes.

19:43  "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

19:44  and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

19:45  Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,

19:46  saying to them, "The scriptures say, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL SERVE AS A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

19:47  And He went teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people tried to destroy Him,

19:48  and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people hung on to every word He said.