They came to Jericho. ¹  As Jesus ²  and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.

Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously ¹  as a beggar began saying, ²  “Is this not the man ³  who used to sit and beg?”

But at his gate lay ¹  a poor man named Lazarus ²  whose body was covered with sores, ³ 

“Now ¹  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ²  The ³  rich man also died and was buried. ⁴ 

May his children ¹  roam around begging, asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! ² 

But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹  basic forces? ²  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ³ 

Sons of senseless and nameless people, ¹  they were driven out of the land with whips. ² 

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, ¹  “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

As ¹  Jesus ²  approached ³  Jericho, ⁴  a blind man was sitting by the road begging.

So ¹  Jesus stopped and ordered the beggar ²  to be brought to him. When the man ³  came near, Jesus ⁴  asked him,

He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust; he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. ³  The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

Some people said, ¹  “This is the man!” ²  while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” ³  The man himself ⁴  kept insisting, “I am the one!” ⁵ 

and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations ¹  at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement ²  at what had happened to him.

While the man ¹  was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway ²  called Solomon’s Portico. ³ 

Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, ¹  the master as well as the servant, ²  the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, ³  the seller as well as the buyer, ⁴  the borrower as well as the lender, ⁵  the creditor as well as the debtor. ⁶ 

If I go out into the countryside, I see those who have been killed in battle. If I go into the city, I see those who are sick because of starvation. ¹  For both prophet and priest go about their own business in the land without having any real understanding.’” ² 

Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ¹  and need nothing,” but ²  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ³  poor, blind, and naked,