Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ^aought to pray and not ^bgive up and lose heart, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and had no ^arespect for man. 3 There was a desperate widow in that city and she kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice and legal protection from my adversary.’ 4 For a time he would not; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^arespect man, 5 yet ^abecause this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and legal protection; otherwise ¹by continually coming she will be an intolerable annoyance and she will ^bwear me out.’” 6 Then ^athe Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says! 7 And will not our just God ^adefend and avenge His ^belect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He ^cdelay in providing justice on their behalf? 8 I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^awill He find this kind of persistent faith on the earth?”

9 He also told this parable to some people who ^atrusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God, and who ^bviewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men ^awent up into the temple enclosure to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee ^astood ostentatiously and began praying to himself in a self-righteous way, saying: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—swindlers, unjust (dishonest) , adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I ^afast twice a week; I ^bpay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, ^astanding at a distance, ^bwould not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but ^cwas striking his chest in humility and repentance, saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his home justified forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God rather than the other man; ^afor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself forsaking self-righteous pride will be exalted.”

15 ^aNow they were also bringing their babies to Him, so that He would touch and bless them, and when the disciples noticed it, they began reprimanding them. 16 But Jesus called them to Himself, saying to the apostles, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God with faith and humility like a child will not enter it at all.”

18 ^aA certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher You who are essentially and morally good, what shall I do to inherit eternal life that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom?” Matt 19:16-29; Mark 10:17-30 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is essentially and morally good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘^aDO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT TESTIFY FALSELY, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.’” Ex 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20 21 He replied, “I have kept all these things from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “You still lack one thing; ^asell everything that you have and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have abundant ^btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “^aHow difficult it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For ^ait is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man who places his faith in wealth or status to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And those who heard it said, “¹Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “^aThe things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17

28 Peter said, “Look, ^awe have left all things—homes, families, businesses and followed You.” 29 And He said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, ^athere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much in this present age and in ^athe age to come, eternal life.”

31 ^aThen taking the ¹twelve disciples aside, He said to them, “Listen carefully: ^bwe are going up to Jerusalem, and ^call things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled and completed. Is 53:1-12 32 ^aHe will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) , and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on, Is 50:6 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise from the dead.” Ps 16:10 34 But ^athe disciples understood none of these things about the approaching death and resurrection of Jesus. This statement was hidden from them, and they did not grasp the meaning of the things that were said by Jesus.

35 ^aAs ^bHe was approaching Jericho on His way to Jerusalem, it happened that a blind man was sitting beside the road begging. Matt 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52 36 Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was about. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 So he shouted out, saying, “Jesus, ^1aSon of David (Messiah) , have mercy on me!” 39 Those who were leading the way were sternly telling him to keep quiet; but he screamed all the more, “^aSon of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me regain my sight!” 42 Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; ^ayour personal trust and confident faith in Me has made you well.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, ^aglorifying and praising and honoring God. And ^ball the people, when they saw it, praised God.

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^aought to pray and not ^bbecome discouraged, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^arespect any person. 3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my ¹opponent.’ 4 For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^arespect any person, 5 yet ^abecause this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise ¹by continually coming she will ^bwear me out.’” 6 And ^athe Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; 7 now, will God not ^abring about justice for His ^belect who cry out to Him day ¹and night, and will He ^cdelay long for them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^awill He find ¹faith on the earth?”

9 Now He also told this parable to some people who ^atrusted in themselves that they were righteous, and ^bviewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men ^awent up into the ¹temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee ^astood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I ^afast twice a week; I ^bpay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, ^astanding some distance away, ^bwas even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but ^cwas beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be ¹merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; ^afor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

15 ^aNow they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for ¹the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not ²forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

18 ^aA ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me ¹good? No one is ²good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘^aDO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.” 22 Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; ^asell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have ^btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “^aHow hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For ^ait is easier for a camel to ¹go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!” 26 Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “^aThe things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

28 Peter said, “Behold, ^awe have left ¹our own homes and followed You.” 29 And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^athere is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much at this time, and in ^athe age to come, eternal life.”

31 ^aNow He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, ^bwe are going up to Jerusalem, and ^call the things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 ^aFor He will be ¹handed over to the Gentiles, and will be ridiculed, and abused, and spit upon, 33 and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” 34 ^1aThe disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

35 ^aNow as ^1bJesus was approaching Jericho, a man who was blind was sitting by the road, begging. 36 But when he heard a crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, ^aSon of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “^aSon of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; ^ayour faith has ¹made you well.” 43 And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, ^aglorifying God; and when ^ball the people saw it, they gave praise to God.