Chapter 18

¹He gave them an illustration to show that they must always pray and not give up, ²and he said,

“There was once in a city a judge who had no fear of God and no respect for men. ³There was a widow in the city and she came to him and said, ‘Protect me from my opponent.’ ⁴And he would not for a time, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God nor respect for men, ⁵yet because this widow bothers me, I will protect her, so that she may not finally wear me out with her coming.’ ”

⁶And the Master said,

“Listen to what this dishonest judge said! ⁷Then will not God provide protection for his chosen people, who cry out to him day and night? ⁸I tell you, he will make haste to provide it! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

⁹To some who were confident of their own uprightness, and thought nothing of others, he used this illustration:

¹⁰“Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and uttered this prayer to himself: ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, greedy, dishonest, or adulterous, like that tax-collector. ¹²I fast two days in the week; I pay tithes on everything I get.’ ¹³But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, and said, ‘O God, have mercy on a sinner like me!’ ¹⁴I tell you, it was he who went back to his house with God’s approval, and not the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵People brought babies to him to have him touch them, but the disciples, when they saw it, reproved them for it. ¹⁶But Jesus called them up to him and said,

“Let the children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they. ¹⁷I tell you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

¹⁸A member of the council asked him,

“Good master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?”

¹⁹Jesus said to him,

“Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself. ²⁰You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”

²¹And he said,

“I have obeyed all these commandments ever since I was a child.”

²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him,

“There is one thing that you still lack. Sell all that you have, and divide the money among the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine.”

²³But when he heard that, he was much cast down, for he was very rich. ²⁴And when Jesus saw it, he said,

“How hard it will be for those who have money to get into the Kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God!”

²⁶And those who heard it said,

“Then who can be saved?”

²⁷And he said,

“The things that are impossible for men are possible for God!”

²⁸Peter said,

“Here we have left home and followed you.”

²⁹And he said to them,

“I tell you, there is no one who has given up home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the Kingdom of God ³⁰who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the coming age eternal life.”

³¹And he took the Twelve aside and said to them,

“See! we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written in the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

³²For he will be handed over to the heathen, and ridiculed and insulted and spat upon, ³³and they will flog him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.”

³⁴And they did not understand any of this; the words were obscure to them, and they did not know what he meant.

³⁵As he approached Jericho, a blind man happened to be sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶And hearing a crowd going by he asked what it meant. ³⁷They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was coming by. ³⁸And he shouted,

“Jesus, you Son of David, take pity on me!”

³⁹And those who were in front reproved him and told him to be quiet, but he cried out all the louder,

“You Son of David, take pity on me!”

⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came up, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?”

He answered,

“Master, let me regain my sight!”

⁴²And Jesus said to him,

“Regain your sight! Your faith has cured you!”

⁴³And he regained his sight immediately, and followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. And all the people saw it and praised God.