Luke 18

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

The widow and the unjust judge

¹ Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, ² saying, "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear Elohim nor regard man. ³ Now there was a widow in that city; and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' ⁴ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear Elohim nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow troubles me, I will get justice for her, lest by her continual coming she wear me out.'" ⁶ Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And shall Elohim not bring about justice for His elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He is long-suffering toward them? ⁸ I say to you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

The Pharisee and the tax collector

⁹ Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'Elohim, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I acquire.' ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'Elohim, be merciful to me, a sinner.' ¹⁴ I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

¹⁵ Then they also brought infants to Him, that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Yeshua called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of Elohim. ¹⁷ Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of Elohim as a little child will by no means enter it."

The rich ruler

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" ¹⁹ So Yeshua said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, Elohim. ²⁰ You know the commandments: 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'" ²¹ And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." ²² So when Yeshua heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." ²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

²⁴ And when Yeshua saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of Elohim! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Elohim." ²⁶ And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?" ²⁷ But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with Elohim."

²⁸ Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You." ²⁹ So He said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of Elohim, ³⁰ who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come, eternal life."

³¹ Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³² For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. ³³ And they will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." ³⁴ But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

A blind man near Jericho

³⁵ Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd passing by, he asked what it meant. ³⁷ So they told him that Yeshua the Nazarene was passing by. ³⁸ And he cried out, saying, "Yeshua, Son of David, have mercy on me!" ³⁹ Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁰ So Yeshua stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, ⁴¹ saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." ⁴² Then Yeshua said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." ⁴³ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying Elohim. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to Elohim.

Notes

• 18:3 The Torah sets the widow under Elohim's own protection: "You shall not afflict any widow or orphan" (Exodus 22:22), and a judge was charged to judge justly (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). This judge fears neither Elohim nor man, yet even he gives way to the widow's persistence; Yeshua's point is how much more Elohim, who is just, will answer His own.
• 18:12 The Torah commands fasting on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29), and tithes of the produce of the land (Deuteronomy 14:22); this man goes beyond both. Fasting twice a week was a pious custom of the time: the Didache, an early Christian writing from about the end of the first century, says that others of the time fasted on the second and fifth days of the week, and later Jewish tradition kept fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. "Week" here is sabbaton, the Shabbat that gives the week its name.
• 18:13 "Be merciful" is hilasthēti, from the word family that the Greek Scriptures use for atonement and for the "mercy seat" (kapporet) over the ark. Standing in the temple, perhaps at the hour of the offering, the tax collector does not list his deeds but asks Elohim for the mercy of atonement.
• 18:20 Yeshua points the man to the commandments of the Torah, as in Matthew 19:17 and Mark 10:19, naming those of the Ten Words that concern one's neighbor. Luke, like Mark, lists adultery before murder, an order also found in some ancient Greek copies of Deuteronomy 5 and in Romans 13:9.

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