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Luke · Chapter 18

Luke 18

Berean Standard Bible · Public domain · Source credits

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The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

2“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.

3And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

4For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

5yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”

6And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge.

7Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?

8I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:

10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.*

12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus Blesses the Children

(Matthew 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16)

15Now people were even bringing their babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought them.

16But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

17Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The Rich Young Ruler

(Matthew 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31)

18Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone.

20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”*

21“All these I have kept from my youth,” he said.

22On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

23But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

24Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!*

25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

27But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

28“Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.”*

29“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

30will fail to receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

The Third Prediction of the Passion

(Matthew 20:17–19; Mark 10:32–34)

31Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

32He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.

33They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.”

34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

(Matthew 20:29–34; Mark 10:46–52)

35As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging.

36When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.

37“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.

38So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

39Those who led the way admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

40Jesus stopped and directed that the man be brought to Him. When he had been brought near, Jesus asked him,

41“What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “let me see again.”

42“Receive your sight!” Jesus replied. “Your faith has healed you.”

43Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.

Source notes

  1. 18:11 Or stood and prayed to himself
  2. 18:20 Exodus 20:12–16; Deuteronomy 5:16–20 Read Exodus 20:12 Read Deuteronomy 5:16
  3. 18:24 Literally Seeing that he had become sorrowful; SBL, NE, and WH Seeing him
  4. 18:28 Literally left our own; BYZ and TR left all

Old Testament references

References from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Text from the Berean Standard Bible.

Exodus 20:12

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:16

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Genesis 32:9

Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

Genesis 32:10

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

Genesis 32:11

Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me.

Genesis 32:12

But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”

Genesis 32:24

So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

Genesis 32:25

When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.

Genesis 32:26

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Job 27:8

For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Job 27:9

Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?

Job 27:10

Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?

Psalms 55:16

But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

Psalms 55:17

Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

Read the commentary on Luke 18

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