Luke 19:1-22 ▼

1 As Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it,

2 a man named Zacchaeus appeared. He was a leading tax collector, and a rich one at that!

3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he couldn't do so due to the crowd, since he was a short man.

4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.

5 When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up and said, |Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.|

6 Zacchaeus came down quickly and was glad to welcome him into his home.

7 But all the people who saw this began to complain: |Jesus is going to be the guest of a notorious sinner!|

8 Later, Zacchaeus stood up and announced to the Lord, |Look! I'm giving half of my possessions to the destitute, and if I have accused anyone falsely, I'm repaying four times as much as I owe.|

9 Then Jesus told him, |Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham,

10 and the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.|

11 As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and because the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

12 So he said, |A prince went to a distant country to be appointed king and then to return.

13 He called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He told them, 'Invest this money until I come back.'

14 But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation to follow him and to announce, 'We don't want this man to rule over us!'

15 |After he was appointed king, the prince came back. He ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called so he could find out what they had earned by investing.

16 The first servant came and said, 'Sir, your coin has earned ten more coins.'

17 The king told him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.'

18 |The second servant came and said, 'Your coin, sir, has earned five coins.'

19 The king told him, 'You take charge of five cities.'

20 |Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, look! Here's your coin. I've kept it in a cloth for safekeeping

21 because I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You withdraw what you didn't deposit and harvest what you didn't plant.'

22 The king told him, 'I will judge you by your own words, you evil servant! You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, and that I withdraw what I didn't deposit and harvest what I didn't plant?