And it came to pass, as He was near Jericho, a blind man sat begging by the wayside. When he was told that Jesus was passing by, he cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. When some told him to hold his peace, he cried out again, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
Jesus stopped and commanded that the blind man be brought to Him. Then Jesus said to the man, What do you want me to do for you? The man said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. Jesus said, Receive thy sight. Thy faith has saved thee. And immediately he received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. The people, also, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
19 In Jericho there was rich man named Zacchaeus, who was the head of the publicans. When Jesus passed through the town, Zacchaeus wanted to see Him. Zacchaeus was short of stature and could not see Jesus through the press of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a tree to see Jesus as He passed by.
When Jesus came to the place, He looked up, saw him and said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. Today I must abide at your house. He hurried down from the tree and received Jesus joyfully. When the people saw this, they all murmured and said that Jesus was gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
Then Zacchaeus said, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have taken anything from any one by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Jesus said to him, Today salvation comes to this house, for now you are also a son of Abraham. The Son of man is come to seek and to save those who were lost.
As the people listened to these things, Jesus added a parable, because He was now near Jerusalem and many thought that the kingdom of God should appear immediately.
He said therefore, A nobleman went a great distance to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. He called his ten servants together and delivered over to them ten talents. He said to them, Handle my business until I return. But the citizens hated this nobleman, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man reign over us.
After he received the kingdom, he returned and called the servants to him for an accounting of what they had done with the talents. The first servant said, Lord, thy talent has gained ten more. He said to him, Very good. Because you have been faithful in this little matter, you now have authority over ten cities. The second servant said, Lord, the talent has gained another five. He said likewise to him, You now have authority over five cities.
Then came another servant who said, Lord, here is your talent which I have kept tied up in a cloth for I feared thee because thou art a hard man. You take up what you have not laid down and reap what you have not sown.
He said to this servant, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. If you knew that I was a hard man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping what I did not sow, why, then, did you not put the talents in the bank, that, on my return, I would get my own back with interest? Give this talent to the servant who gained ten more. To every one who has, more shall be given. And from him who has not, even the little he has shall be taken away from him. And those who are my enemies and say I should reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.