1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
2 A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He was a chief tax collector and was very rich.
3 Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was a short man. He could not see Jesus because of the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree. He wanted to see Jesus, who was coming that way.
5 Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay at your house today."
6 So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this. They began to whisper among themselves. They said, "Jesus has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "