Cities of Judah Warned

26 In the beginning of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(B)Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(C)come to worship in the Lord’s house ^(D)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(E)Do not omit a word! ^3 (F)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, and ^(G)I will relent of the disaster which I am planning to inflict on them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(H)If you do not listen to Me, to ^(I)walk in My Law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of ^(J)My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(K)Shiloh, and I will make this city a ^(L)curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷ The ^(M)priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸ Yet when Jeremiah finished speaking everything that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “^(N)You must die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be ^(O)in ruins, without inhabitant’?” And ^(P)all the people gathered to Jeremiah at the house of the Lord.

¹⁰ When the ^(Q)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat at the ^(R)entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets ^(S)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^(T)death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied ^(U)against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “^(V)The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now then, ^(W)reform your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will relent of the disaster which He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, ^(X)I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^(Y)innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words ^[a]so that you hear them.”

Jeremiah Is Spared

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people ^(Z)said to the priests and the prophets, “No ^(AA)death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” ¹⁷ Then ^(AB)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “^[b](AC)Micah of Moresheth used to prophesy in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies has said:

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah actually put him to death? Did he not ^(AF)fear the Lord and plead for the favor of the Lord, and ^(AG)the Lord relented of the disaster which He had pronounced against them? But we are ^(AH)committing a great evil against our own lives!”

²⁰ Indeed, there was also a man who used to prophesy in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(AI)Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard his words, then the ^(AJ)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard about it, and he was afraid, so he ^(AK)fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(AL)Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him, to Egypt. ²³ And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^(AM)killed him with a sword and threw his dead body into the ^[d]burial place of the ^[e]common people.

²⁴ But the hand of ^(AN)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(AO)not handed over to the people to put him to death.

Parable of the Vine-growers

12 ^(A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “^(B)A man ^(C)planted a vineyard and put a ^[a]fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers and went on a journey. ² And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the ^[c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^[e]people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(G)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes

^13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(I)Herodians to Him in order to ^(J)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[f]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[g]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[h]permissible to pay a ^[i]poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[j]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(K)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to ^[k]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^[l]marry the wife and raise up ^[m]children for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[n]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[o]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[p]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(O)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (P)He is not the God ^[q]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (Q)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[r]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The ^[s]foremost is, ‘^(S)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; ^30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘^(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(V)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; ^33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(X)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(Y)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^35 (Z)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(AA)taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the ^[t]Christ is the ^(AB)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[u]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(AD)the large crowd ^[v]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (AE)And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(AF)personal greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

The Widow’s Coins

^41 (AH)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(AI)the treasury, and began watching how the ^[w]people were ^(AJ)putting ^[x]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^[y]lepta coins, which amount to a ^[z]quadrans. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[aa]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[ab]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[ac]all she had ^(AK)to live on.”