Holman Christian Standard Bible (309 page)

Blessing the Children

15
 Some people were even bringing infants to Him so He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
16
 Jesus, however, invited them:
“Let the little children come to Me, and don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17
 
•I assure you
: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The Rich Young Ruler

18
 A ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ” 

19
 “Why do you call Me good? ”
Jesus asked him.
“No one is good but One — God.
20
 You know the commandments:

21
 “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

22
 When Jesus heard this, He told him,
“You still lack one thing: Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
 

23
 After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.

Possessions and the Kingdom

24
 Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25
 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

26
 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved? ” 

27
 He replied,
“What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
 

28
 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed You.”

29
 So He said to them,
“I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,
30
 who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”

The Third Prediction of His Death

31
 Then He took the Twelve aside and told them,
“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
 
32
 For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and He will be mocked, insulted, spit on;
33
 and after they flog Him, they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day.”
 

34
 They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

A Blind Man Receives His Sight

35
 As He drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.
36
 Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what this meant.
37
 “Jesus the
•Nazarene
 is passing by,” they told him.

38
 So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! ”
39
 Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me! ”

40
 Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him. When he drew near, He asked him,
41
 “What do you want Me to do for you? ”

“Lord,” he said, “I want to see! ”

42
 “Receive your sight! ”
 Jesus told him.
“Your faith has healed you.”
43
 Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Luke

Jesus Visits Zacchaeus

19
He entered Jericho and was passing through.
2
 There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3
 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.
4
 So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way.
5
 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him,
“Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today I must stay at your house.”

6
 So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully.
7
 All who saw it began to complain, “He's gone to lodge with a sinful man! ”

8
 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I'll pay back four times as much! ” 

9
 “Today salvation has come to this house,”
Jesus told him,
“because he too is a son of Abraham.
 
10
 For the
•Son
of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the 10 Minas

11
 As they were listening to this, He went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away. 

12
 Therefore He said:
“A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king
 
and then return.
13
 He called 10 of his
•slaves
, gave them 10 minas,
 
and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.'

15
 “At his return, having received the authority to be king,
 
he summoned those slaves he had given the money to, so he could find out how much they had made in business.
16
 The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned 10 more minas.'

17
 “ ‘Well done, good
 
slave! ' he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over 10 towns.'

22
 “He told him, ‘I will judge you by what you have said,
 
you evil slave! If you knew I was a tough man, collecting what I didn't deposit and reaping what I didn't sow,
23
 why didn't you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest! '
24
 So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has 10 minas.'

26
 “ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.
 
27
 But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter
 
them in my presence.' ”

The Triumphal Entry

28
 When He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 
29
 As He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the
•Mount
of Olives, He sent two of the disciples
30
 and said,
“Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.
31
 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it? ' say this: ‘The Lord needs it.' ”

32
 So those who were sent left and found it just as He had told them. 
33
 As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey? ”

34
 “The Lord needs it,” they said.
35
 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it. 
36
 As He was going along, they were spreading their robes on the road. 
37
 Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

39
 Some of the
•Pharisees
from the crowd told Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40
 He answered,
“I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out! ”
 

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem

41
 As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it,
42
 saying,
“If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.
43
 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
 
44
 They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
 

Cleansing the Temple Complex

45
 He went into the
•temple
complex and began to throw out those who were selling, 
46
 and He said,
“It is written,
My house will be a house of prayer,
 but you have made it
a den of thieves
! ”

47
 Every day He was teaching in the temple complex. The
•chief
priests, the
•scribes
, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to destroy Him,
48
 but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard. 

Luke

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20
One day as He was teaching the people in the
•temple
complex and proclaiming the good news, the
•chief
priests and the
•scribes
, with the elders, came up
2
 and said to Him: “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Who is it who gave You this authority? ”

3
 He answered them,
“I will also ask you a question. Tell Me,
4
 was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? ”

5
 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,' He will say, ‘Why didn't you believe him? '
6
 But if we say, ‘From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 

7
 So they answered that they did not know its origin. 

8
 And Jesus said to them,
“Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

9
 Then He began to tell the people this parable:
“A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time.
10
 At harvest time he sent a
•slave
to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11
 He sent yet another slave, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
12
 And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.

13
 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps
 
they will respect him.'

But when they heard this they said, “No — never! ” 

17
 But He looked at them and said,
“Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:

18
 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and if it falls on anyone, it will grind him to powder! ”
 

19
 Then the scribes and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on Him that very hour, because they knew He had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.