The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart.
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And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired;
2 "In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people.
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Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man:
3 There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.'
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And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong.
4 For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, `I don't fear God, and I don't respect other people;
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And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man,
5 but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice -- otherwise, she'll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!'"
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Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming.
6 Then the Lord commented, "Notice what this corrupt judge says.
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And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge.
7 Now won't God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them?
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And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it?
8 I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?"
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I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be any faith on earth?
9 Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable:
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And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others:
10 "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector.
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Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer.
11 The Parush stood and prayed to himself, `O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector!
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The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer.
12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . '
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Twice in the week I go without food; I give a tenth of all I have.
13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!'
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The tax-farmer, on the other hand, keeping far away, and not lifting up even his eyes to heaven, made signs of grief and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted."
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I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.
15 People brought him babies to touch; but when the talmidim saw the people doing this, they rebuked them.
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And they took their children to him, so that he might put his hands on them: but when the disciples saw it, they said sharp words to them
16 However, Yeshua called the children to him and said, "Let the children come to me, and stop hindering them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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But Jesus sent for them, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not keep them away, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
17 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it at all!"
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Truly I say to you, Whoever does not put himself under the kingdom of God like a little child, will not come into it at all.
18 One of the leaders asked him, "Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?"
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And a certain ruler put a question to him, saying, Good Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?
19 Yeshua said to him, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good but God!
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And Jesus said to him, Why do you say that I am good? No one is good, but only God.
20 You know the mitzvot -- `Don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't give false testimony, honor your father and mother, . . .'"
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You have knowledge of what the law says: Do not be untrue to your wife, Do not put anyone to death, Do not take what is not yours, Do not give false witness, Give honour to your father and mother.
21 He replied, "I have kept all these since I was a boy."
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And he said, All these things I have done from the time when I was a boy.
22 On hearing this Yeshua said to him, "There is one thing you still lack. Sell whatever you have, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!"
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And Jesus, hearing it, said to him, One thing you still have need of; get money for your goods, and give it away to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; and come after me.
23 But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.
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But at these words he became very sad, for he had great wealth.
24 Yeshua looked at him and said, "How hard it is for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!
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And Jesus, looking at him, said, How hard it is for those who have wealth to get into the kingdom of God!
25 It's easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!"
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It is simpler for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a man who has much money to come into the kingdom of God.
26 Those who heard this asked, "Then who can be saved?"
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And those who were present said, Then who may have salvation?
27 He said, "What is impossible humanly is possible with God."
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But he said, Things which are not possible with man are possible with God.
28 Kefa said, "Look, we have left our homes and followed you."
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And Peter said, See, we have given up what is ours to come after you.
29 Yeshua answered them, "Yes! I tell you that everyone who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
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And he said to them, Truly I say to you, There is no man who has given up house or wife or brothers or father or mother or children, because of the kingdom of God,
30 will receive many times as much in the `olam hazeh, and in the `olam haba eternal life."
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Who will not get much more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.
31 Then, taking the Twelve, Yeshua said to them, "We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where everything written through the prophets about the Son of Man will come true.
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And he took with him the twelve and said to them, Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things which were said by the prophets will be done to the Son of man.
32 For he will be handed over to the Goyim and be ridiculed, insulted and spat upon.
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For he will be given up to the Gentiles, and will be made sport of and put to shame:
33 Then, after they have beaten him, they will kill him. But on the third day he will rise."
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And he will be given cruel blows and put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.
34 However, they understood none of this; its meaning had been hidden from them, and they had no idea what he was talking about.
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But they did not take in the sense of any of these words, and what he said was not clear to them, and their minds were not able to see it.
35 As Yeshua approached Yericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging.
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And it came about that when he got near Jericho, a certain blind man was seated by the side of the road, making requests for money from those who went by.
36 When he heard the crowd going past, he asked what it was all about;
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And hearing the sound of a great number of people going by, he said, What is this?
37 and they told him, "Yeshua from Natzeret is passing by."
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And they said to him, Jesus of Nazareth is going by.
38 He called out, "Yeshua! Son of David! Have pity on me!"
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And he said in a loud voice, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.
39 Those in front scolded him in order to get him to shut up, but he shouted all the louder, "Son of David! Have pity on me!"
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And those who were in front made protests and said to him, Be quiet: but he said all the more, O Son of David, have mercy on me.
40 Yeshua stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he had come, Yeshua asked him,
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And Jesus, stopping, gave orders that he was to come to him, and when he came near, he said to him,
41 "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Lord, let me be able to see."
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What would you have me do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may be able to see again.
42 Yeshua said to him, "See again! your trust has healed you!"
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And Jesus said, See again: your faith has made you well.
43 Instantly he received his sight and began following him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they too praised God.
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And straight away he was able to see, and he went after him, giving glory to God; and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.