4. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.
5. And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.
6. So he hurried and came down, and he received and welcomed Him joyfully.
7. And when the people saw it, they all muttered among themselves and indignantly complained, He has gone in to be the guest of and lodge with a man who is devoted to sin and preeminently a sinner.
8. So then Zacchaeus stood up and solemnly declared to the Lord, See, Lord, the half of my goods I [now] give [by way of restoration] to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I [now] restore four times as much. [Exod. 22:1; Lev. 6:5; Num. 5:6, 7.]
9. And Jesus said to him, Today is [Messianic and spiritual] salvation come to [all the members of] this household, since Zacchaeus too is a [real spiritual] son of Abraham;
10. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
11. Now as they were listening to these things, He proceeded to tell a parable, because He was approaching Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be brought to light and shown forth immediately.
12. He therefore said, A certain nobleman went into a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom and then to return.
13. Calling ten of his [own] bond servants, he gave them ten minas [each equal to about one hundred days' wages or nearly twenty dollars] and said to them, Buy and sell with these while I go and then return.
14. But his citizens detested him and sent an embassy after him to say, We do not want this man to become ruler over us.
15. When he returned after having received the kingdom, he ordered these bond servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much each one had made by buying and selling.
16. The first one came before him, and he said, Lord, your mina has made ten [additional] minas.
17. And he said to him, Well done, excellent bond servant! Because you have been faithful and trustworthy in a very little [thing], you shall have authority over ten cities.
18. The second one also came and said, Lord, your mina has made five more minas.
19. And he said also to him, And you will take charge over five cities.
20. Then another came and said, Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief.
21. For I was [constantly] afraid of you, because you are a stern (hard, severe) man; you pick up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.
22. He said to the servant, I will judge and condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked slave! You knew [did you] that I was a stern (hard, severe) man, picking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?
23. Then why did you not put my money in a bank, so that on my return, I might have collected it with interest?
24. And he said to the bystanders, Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.