¹ As Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it, ² a man named Zacchaeus appeared. He was a leading tax collector, and a rich one at that! ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he couldn't do so due to the crowd, since he was a short man. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today."

⁶ Zacchaeus came down quickly and was glad to welcome him into his home. ⁷ But all the people who saw this began to complain: "Jesus is going to be the guest of a notorious sinner!"

⁸ Later, Zacchaeus stood up and announced to the Lord, "Look! I'm giving half of my possessions to the destitute, and if I have accused anyone falsely, I'm repaying four times as much as I owe."

⁹ Then Jesus told him, "Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham, ¹⁰ and the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost."