The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(A)

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, ^(B)and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one may carry the ^(C)ark of God but the Levites, for ^(D)the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” ³ And David ^(E)gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ Then David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his ^[a]brethren; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren; ⁸ of the sons of ^(F)Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; ⁹ of the sons of ^(G)Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred and twelve of his brethren.

¹¹ And David called for ^(H)Zadok and ^(I)Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; ^[b]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ For ^(J)because you did not do it the first time, ^(K)the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him ^[c]about the proper order.”

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites ^[d]sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as ^(L)Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(M)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^(N)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ^(O)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ^[e]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; ¹⁹ the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; ²⁰ Zechariah, ^[f]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^(P)Alamoth; ²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^(Q)Sheminith; ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful; ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, ^(R)were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and ^(S)Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So ^(T)David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. ²⁶ And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine ^(U)linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. ^28 (V)Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹ And it happened, ^(W)as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor

To the Chief Musician. A ^(A)Contemplation^[a] of the sons of Korah.

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers^(A)

12 Then ^(B)He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to ^[a]vinedressers and went into a far country. ² Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. ³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another servant, ^[b]and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. ⁵ And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, ^(C)beating some and killing some. ⁶ Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those ^[c]vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and ^(D)killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(G)

^13 (H)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴ When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and ^[d]care about no one; for You do not ^[e]regard the person of men, but teach the ^(I)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their ^(J)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶ So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said to them, ^[f]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to ^(K)God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(L)

^18 (M)Then some Sadducees, ^(N)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹ “Teacher, ^(O)Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²² So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[g]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^(P)are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead, that they ^(Q)rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(R)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly ^[h]mistaken.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(S)

^28 (T)Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ^[i]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ^[j]first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[k]first of all the commandments is: ^(U)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(V)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[l]This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(W)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(X)these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(Y)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[m]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(Z)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(AA)But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(AB)

^35 (AC)Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? ³⁶ For David himself said ^(AD)by the Holy Spirit:

³⁷ Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his ^(AF)Son?”

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes^(AG)

³⁸ Then ^(AH)He said to them in His teaching, ^(AI)“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, ^(AJ)love greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the ^(AK)best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ^40 (AL)who devour widows’ houses, and ^[n]for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Two Mites^(AM)

^41 (AN)Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money ^(AO)into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two ^[o]mites, which make a ^[p]quadrans. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that ^(AP)this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, ^(AQ)her whole livelihood.”