The New Testament

The New Testament › Luke

Luke 19

1He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And look, there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4Running ahead, he climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, because he was about to pass that way. 5When 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.” 6He hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. 7When they saw it, everyone grumbled, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a sinful man.” 8Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I repay it fourfold.” 9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

11While they listened 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. 12So he said, “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and return. 13Calling ten of his slaves, he gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business until I come.’ 14But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be called, so that he could learn what they had gained by doing business. 16The first came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas more.’ 17He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in very little, have authority over ten towns.’ 18The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19He said to this one too, ‘You also are to be over five towns.’

20“The other came, saying, ‘Master, look, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a cloth. 21For I feared you, because you are a severe man. You take up what you did not put down, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22He said to him, ‘By your own mouth I judge you, evil slave! You knew that I am a severe man, taking up what I did not put down and reaping what I did not sow? 23Then why did you not put my money in a bank? When I came, I could have collected it with interest.’ 24He said to those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25They said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas!’ 26‘I tell you, everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken. 27But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

28Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mountain called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village opposite you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no person has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32Those sent went and found it just as he had told them. 33As they untied the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and put Jesus on it. 36As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began rejoicing and praising God with a loud voice for all the deeds of power they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the Lord's name! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.”

41As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over her, 42saying, “If only you too had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43For days will come upon you when your enemies will build a siege barrier against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, and your children within you. They will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

45He entered the temple and began driving out those who were selling, 46saying to them, “It is written, ‘And my house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” 47He was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests, scribes, and leading men of the people sought to destroy him, 48but they could not find what to do, for all the people hung on his words as they listened.

Translation notes 6

19:3–10 — Zacchaeus. The sycamore fig is a different tree from 17:6. The verbs “give” and “repay” in verse 8 are present tense: they can express a commitment made now or an account of habitual conduct. The narrative's “today” and salvation language favor a new response, but the reading does not add “from now on” or replace the conditional confession with an explicit list of past crimes. “Son of Abraham” reconnects him with the people to whom he belongs. Seeking and saving what was lost recalls chapter 15.

19:12–19 — Kingdom and minas. A mina is a monetary amount; ten are given to ten slaves. Only three reports are narrated. Luke's story is not rewritten as Matthew's differently distributed talents. “Kingdom” here involves receiving royal authority, not merely acquiring land. The different gains and numbers of towns remain.

19:20–27 — Judgment. The cloth is a small cloth or handkerchief. The master's question uses the slave's own account of him; the reading does not turn that accusation into the narrator's assessment. Verse 26 can also be heard as Jesus' application interrupting the story. The slaughter command remains the king's speech, including its violence; it is not turned into a general command to the readers.

19:30–40 — Colt and acclamation. Luke says colt without naming its species here, and mentions cloaks without adding palm branches. “Lord” and “owners” render the same Greek title in different roles. The acclamation says peace in heaven; it is not changed to the peace on earth of 2:14. “Deeds of power” connects with 10:13.

19:41–44 — Jerusalem. The city is addressed as a woman with children. “If only” expresses the unfinished wish. Visitation concerns the decisive coming or intervention she failed to recognize, recalling the favorable visitation language in chapters 1 and 7. The siege and destruction are not softened into a purely inward experience.

19:45–48 — Temple. The base mentions sellers, without the added buyers found in some witnesses. Luke quotes a house of prayer without Mark's “for all nations.” “Hung on his words” renders the image of hanging upon him while listening; “words” is supplied for clear English.