The Temple Tax

^24 (A)When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of ^(B)the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, ^(C)“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or ^(D)tax? From their sons or from others?” ²⁶ And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ^(A)taxes to ^(B)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^(C)put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.^{[a] 20} And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, ^(D)“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²² When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^(E)left him and went away.

Giving to the Needy

6 “Beware of ^(A)practicing your righteousness before other people in order ^(B)to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

^2 (C)“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^(D)be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^(E)received their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. ^(F)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

^19 (A)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^(B)moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves ^(C)break in and steal, ^20 (D)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

^22 (E)“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ^23 (F)but if ^(G)your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

^24 (H)“No one 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 ^(I)money.^[b]

Do Not Be Anxious

^25 (J)“Therefore I tell you, ^(K)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ^26 (L)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^(M)Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(N)span of life?^{[c] 28} And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, ^(O)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^(P)O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^(A)perfect, go, ^(B)sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(C)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²³ The same day ^(A)Sadducees came to him, ^(B)who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ^(C)‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.

¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^(A)proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^(B)child of ^(C)hell^[a] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(D)you, ^(E)blind guides, who say, ^(F)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(G)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(H)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(I)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(J)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(K)heaven swears by ^(L)the throne of God and by ^(M)him who sits upon it.

^23 (N)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(O)you tithe mint and dill and ^(P)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(Q)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(R)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(S)a camel!

^25 (T)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(U)you clean the outside of ^(V)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(W)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(X)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (Y)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(Z)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(AA)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(AB)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(AC)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (AD)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,