1. Jesus was going through Jericho,
2. where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich.
3-4. Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.
5. When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.”
6. Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.
7. Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”
8. Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.”
9. Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham.
10. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.”
11. The crowd was still listening to Jesus as he was getting close to Jerusalem. Many of them thought that God's kingdom would soon appear,
12. and Jesus told them this story:A prince once went to a foreign country to be crowned king and then to return.
13. But before leaving, he called in ten servants and gave each of them some money. He told them, “Use this to earn more money until I get back.”
14. But the people of his country hated him, and they sent messengers to the foreign country to say, “We don't want this man to be our king.”
15. After the prince had been made king, he returned and called in his servants. He asked them how much they had earned with the money they had been given.