ON THE RICH
WORDS OF JESUS FROM THE SYNOPTIC
GOSPELS
Matthew
Matthew 19:16-30
16 And behold, one came up to him, saying,
"Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?"
17 And
he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what
is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
18 He
said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You
shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You
shall not bear false witness,
19 Honor your
father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
20 The
young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?"
21 Jesus said to him, "If
you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
22 When
the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he
had great possessions.
23 And
Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say
to you, it will be hard for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell
you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a
rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25 When
the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then
can be saved?"
26 But
Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
27 Then
Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What
then shall we have?"
28 Jesus said to them,
"Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on
his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every
one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children
or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal
life.
30 But many that
are first will be last, and the last first. |
Mark
Mark 10:17-31
17 And as he was setting out on his journey,
a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must
I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 And Jesus said to him,
"Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
19 You know the
commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not
bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"
20 And
he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."
21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and
said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell
what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me."
22 At
that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for
he had great possessions.
23 And
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How
hard it will be for those
who have riches
to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 And
the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children,
how hard it is to
enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 And
they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"
27 Jesus
looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible,
but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
28 Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have
left everything and followed you."
29 Jesus
said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one
who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,
30 who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to
come eternal life.
31 But many that
are first will be last, and the last first.
Mark 12:41-44
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury, and
watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich
people put in
large sums.
42 And a poor widow came, and put in two copper
coins, which make a penny.
43 And he called his disciples to him, and
said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor
widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.
44 For they all
contributed out of their abundance;
but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living." |
Luke 6:24-26
24 "But woe to you
that are rich, for you have received your
consolation.
25 "Woe to you
that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for
you shall mourn and weep.
26 "Woe to you,
when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
Luke 18:18-30
17 And
as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him,
and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 And Jesus said to him, "Why
do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
19 You know the
commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not
bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"
20 And
he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."
21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and
said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell
what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me."
22 At
that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he
had great possessions.
23 And
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How
hard it will be for those
who have riches
to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 And
the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children,
how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 And
they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"
27 Jesus
looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible,
but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
28 Peter
began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you."
29 Jesus
said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one
who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,
30 who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to
come eternal life.
31 But many that
are first will be last, and the last first."
Luke 21:1-4
1 He
looked up and saw the
rich putting
their gifts into the treasury;
2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper
coins.
3 And he said, "Truly
I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;
4 for they all
contributed out of their abundance,
but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had." |
Luke 12:13-21
13 One
of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance
with me."
14 But he said to him, "Man,
who made me a judge or divider over you?"
15 And
he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of
all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of
his possessions."
16 And he told them a parable, saying, "The
land of a rich man
brought forth plentifully;
17 and he thought
to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'
18 And he said,
'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and
there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I will
say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take
your ease, eat, drink, be merry.'
20 But God said
to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things
you have prepared, whose will they be?'
21 So is he
who lays up treasure for himself, and is not
rich toward God."
Luke 16:1-13
1 He
also said to the disciples, "There was a
rich man who had a steward, and charges were
brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
2 And he called
him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account
of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
3 And the steward
said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship
away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
4 I have decided
what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put
out of the stewardship.'
5 So, summoning
his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you
owe my master?'
6 He said, 'A
hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit
down quickly and write fifty.'
7 Then he said
to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of
wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
8 The master
commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this
world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons
of light.
9 And I tell
you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous
mammon, so that when it fails they may receive
you into the eternal habitations.
10 "He who is
faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest
in a very little is dishonest also in much.
11 If then you
have not been faithful in the unrighteous
mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches?
12 And if you
have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that
which is your own?
13 No servant
can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and mammon."
Luke 16:19-31
19 "There was
a
rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine
linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his
gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,
21 who desired
to be fed with what fell from the rich man's
table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man
died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich
man also died and was buried;
23 and in Hades,
being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus
in his bosom.
24 And he called
out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the
end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this
flame.'
25 But Abraham
said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things,
and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here,
and you are in anguish.
26 And besides
all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that
those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross
from there to us.'
27 And he said,
'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house,
28 for I have
five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this
place of torment.'
29 But Abraham
said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
30 And he said,
'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will
repent.'
31 He said to
him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
convinced if some one should rise from the dead.
Luke 19:1-10
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.
2 And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he
was a chief tax collector, and rich.
3 And
he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd,
because he was small of stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a
sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.
5 And
when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us,
make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today."
6 So
he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And
when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of
a man who is a sinner."
8 And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord,
"Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded
any one of anything, I restore it fourfold."
9 And Jesus said to him, "Today
salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son
of man came to seek and to save the lost. |