Matthew 22
Contemporary English Version
The Great Banquet
(Luke 14.15-24)
22 Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people:
2 The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused. 4 He sent other servants to say to the guests, “The banquet is ready! My cattle and prize calves have all been prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!”
5 But the guests did not pay any attention. Some of them left for their farms, and some went to their places of business. 6 Others grabbed the servants, then beat them up and killed them.
7 This made the king so furious that he sent an army to kill those murderers and burn down their city. 8 Then he said to the servants, “It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don't deserve to come. 9 Go out to the street corners and tell everyone you meet to come to the banquet.” 10 They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests.
11 When the king went in to meet the guests, he found that one of them wasn't wearing the right kind of clothes for the wedding. 12 The king asked, “Friend, why didn't you wear proper clothes for the wedding?” But the guest had no excuse. 13 (A) So the king gave orders for this person to be tied hand and foot and to be thrown outside into the dark. That's where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 14 (B) Many are invited, but only a few are chosen.
Paying Taxes
(Mark 12.13-17; Luke 20.20-26)
15 The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 16 They sent some of their followers and some of Herod's followers[a] to say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. 17 Tell us what you think! Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”
18 Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, “Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs! 19 Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes.” They brought him a silver coin, 20 and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”
21 “The Emperor's,” they answered.
Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” 22 His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.
Life in the Future World
(Mark 12.18-27; Luke 20.27-40)
23 (C) The Sadducees did not believe people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:
24 (D) Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.
25 Once there were seven brothers who lived here. The first one married, but died without having any children. So his wife was left to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brothers and finally to all seven of them. 27 At last the woman died. 28 When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? She had been married to all seven brothers.
29 Jesus answered:
You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. 30 (E) When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 And as for people being raised to life, God was speaking to you when he said, 32 (F) “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[b] He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 The crowds were surprised to hear what Jesus was teaching.
The Most Important Commandment
(Mark 12.28-34; Luke 10.25-28)
34 After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together. 35 (G) One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking, 36 “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”
37 (H) Jesus answered:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 38 This is the first and most important commandment. 39 (I) The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” 40 All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets[c] are based on these two commandments.
About David's Son
(Mark 12.35-37; Luke 20.41-44)
41 While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?”
They answered, “He will be a son of King David.”[d]
43 Jesus replied, “How then could the Spirit lead David to call the Messiah his Lord? David said,
44 (J) ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side[e]
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you.’
45 If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be a son of King David?” 46 No one was able to give Jesus an answer, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.
Footnotes
- 22.16 Herod's followers: People who were political followers of the family of Herod the Great (see 2.1) and his son Herod Antipas (see 14.1), and who wanted Herod to be king in Jerusalem.
- 22.32 I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: Jesus argues that if God is worshiped by these three, they must still be alive, because he is the God of the living.
- 22.40 the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.
- 22.42 son of King David: See the note at 9.27.
- 22.44 right side: The place of power and honor.
Mark 12
Contemporary English Version
Renters of a Vineyard
(Matthew 21.33-46; Luke 20.9-19)
12 (A) Jesus then told them this story:
A farmer once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.
2 When it was harvest time, he sent a servant to get his share of the grapes. 3 The renters grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him away without a thing.
4 The owner sent another servant, but the renters beat him on the head and insulted him terribly. 5 Then the man sent another servant, and they killed him. He kept sending servant after servant. They beat some of them and killed some.
6 The owner had a son he loved very much. Finally, he sent his son to the renters because he thought they would respect him. 7 But they said to themselves, “Someday he will own this vineyard. Let's kill him! That way we can have it all for ourselves.” 8 So they grabbed the owner's son, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard. 10 (B) You surely know that the Scriptures say,
‘The stone the builders
tossed aside
is now the most important
stone of all.
11 This is something
the Lord has done,
and it is amazing to us.’ ”
12 The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left.
Paying Taxes
(Matthew 22.15-22; Luke 20.20-26)
13 The Pharisees got together with Herod's followers.[a] Then they sent some men to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 14 They went to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. And you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”
15 Jesus knew what they were up to, and he said, “Why are you trying to test me? Show me a coin!”
16 They brought him a silver coin, and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”
“The Emperor's,” they answered.
17 Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at Jesus.
Life in the Future World
(Matthew 22.23-33; Luke 20.27-40)
18 (C) The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So some of them came to Jesus and said:
19 (D) Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother. 20 There were once seven brothers. The first one married, but died without having any children. 21 The second brother married his brother's widow, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, 22 and finally to all seven brothers. At last the woman died. 23 When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? After all, she had been married to all seven brothers.
24 Jesus answered:
You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. 25 When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26 (E) You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[b] 27 He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.
The Most Important Commandment
(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)
28 (F) One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”
29 (G) Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. 30 You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ 31 (H) The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”
32 (I) The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. 33 (J) It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.”
34 When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, “You are not far from God's kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.
About David's Son
(Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)
35 As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say the Messiah will come from the family of King David? 36 (K) The Holy Spirit led David to say,
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side[c]
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you.’
37 If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?”[d]
The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach.
Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses
(Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)
38 As Jesus was teaching, he said:
Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. 39 They like the front seats in the synagogues and the best seats at banquets. 40 But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all.
A Widow's Offering
(Luke 21.1-4)
41 Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. 42 Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins worth only a few pennies. 43 Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:
I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 44 Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a cent to live on.
Footnotes
- 12.13 Herod's followers: People who were political followers of the family of Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas.
- 12.26 I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: Jesus argues that if God is worshiped by these three, they must still be alive, because he is the God of the living.
- 12.36 right side: The place of power and honor.
- 12.37 David … his son: See the note at 10.47.
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