2There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he could not because of the crowd, for he was a short man.
4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way.
5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him. He said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. Today I must stay at your house."
6So he hurried and came down, and welcomed him with joy.
7When the people saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."
8Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of what I own to the poor. And if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I give it back four times over."
9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man also is a son of Abraham."
10"For the Son of man has come to seek and to save what was lost."
11While they were listening to these things, he went on and told them a parable. He did this because he was near Jerusalem, and because they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.
12So he said, "A certain nobleman went to a country far away to be made king, and then to return."
13He called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds. He said to them, 'Do business with this until I come.'
14But the people of his country hated him. They sent a message after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to rule over us.'
15When he came back, having been made king, he ordered these servants to be called to him, the ones he had given the money to. He wanted to know how much each man had gained by trading.
16The first one came and said, 'Lord, your pound has gained ten pounds.'
17He said to him, 'Well done, good servant. Because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you shall have authority over ten cities.'
18The second came and said, 'Lord, your pound has gained five pounds.'
19He said to him in the same way, 'You shall be over five cities.'
20Another came and said, 'Lord, look, here is your pound. I have kept it put away in a cloth.
21For I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.'
22He said to him, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a hard man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow.
23Then why did you not put my money in the bank? Then when I came I could have asked for my own back with interest.'
24And he said to those standing by, 'Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten pounds.'
25(And they said to him, 'Lord, he has ten pounds.')
26'For I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the man who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him.
27"But as for those enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"
28When he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29When he came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the hill called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.
30He said, "Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it you will find a colt tied up, which no one has ever sat on. Untie it and bring it here."
31"And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' this is what you shall say to him: 'Because the Lord needs it.'"
32The ones who were sent went off and found it just as he had told them.
33As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
34They said, "The Lord needs it."
35They brought it to Jesus. They threw their coats on the colt, and they set Jesus on it.
36As he went along, they spread their clothes on the road.
37When he came near, at the place where the road goes down from the mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to rejoice. They praised God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen.
38They said, "Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell your disciples to stop."
40He answered them, "I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out at once."
41When he came near and saw the city, he wept over it.
42He said, "If only you had known, even you, at least on this your day, the things that belong to your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes."
43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build a wall of earth around you. They will surround you and shut you in on every side.
44"They will level you to the ground, you and your children inside you. They will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not know the time when God came to you."
45He went into the temple and began to drive out those who were selling there, and those who were buying.
46He said to them, "It is written, 'My house is the house of prayer.' But you have made it a den of thieves."
47He taught every day in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders of the people were trying to destroy him.
48They could not find any way to do it, because all the people listened to him very closely.