Israel at Mount Sinai

19 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they ^(A)came into the wilderness of Sinai. ² They set out from ^(B)Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before ^(C)the mountain, ³ while ^(D)Moses went up to God. ^(E)The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ^4 (F)‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how ^(G)I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be ^(H)my treasured possession among all peoples, for ^(I)all the earth is mine; ⁶ and you shall be to me a ^(J)kingdom of priests and ^(K)a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ^8 (L)All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you ^(M)in a thick cloud, that ^(N)the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also ^(O)believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰ the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^(P)consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them ^(Q)wash their garments ¹¹ and be ready for the third day. For on the third day ^(R)the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. ^(S)Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;^[a] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When ^(T)the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses ^(U)went down from the mountain to the people and ^(V)consecrated the people; ^(W)and they washed their garments. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the ^(X)third day; ^(Y)do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶ On the morning of the ^(Z)third day there were ^(AA)thunders and lightnings and ^(AB)a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud ^(AC)trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ^(AD)trembled. ¹⁷ Then ^(AE)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(AF)Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and ^(AG)the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the ^(AH)sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(AI)God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord ^(AJ)to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^(AK)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(AL)break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ^(AM)‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people ^(AN)break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 ^(AO)And ^(AP)God spoke all these words, saying,

^2 (AQ)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

^3 (AR)“You shall have no other gods before^[b] me.

^4 (AS)“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ^5 (AT)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^(AU)a jealous God, ^(AV)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands^[c] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^7 (AW)“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

^8 (AX)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (AY)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(AZ)seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the ^(BA)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(BB)in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

^12 (BC)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(BD)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (BE)“You shall not murder.^[d]

^14 (BF)“You shall not commit adultery.

^15 (BG)“You shall not steal.

^16 (BH)“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

^17 (BI)“You shall not covet ^(BJ)your neighbor's house; ^(BK)you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw ^(BL)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[e] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(BM)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (BN)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(BO)test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ^(BP)thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ^(BQ)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (BR)You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. ^(BS)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(BT)bless you. ^25 (BU)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(BV)you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18 (A)In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^(B)he became hungry. ^19 (C)And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered them, ^(D)“Truly, I say to you, ^(E)if you have faith and ^(F)do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^(G)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(H)whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^(I)if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23 (J)And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^(K)as he was teaching, and said, ^(L)“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, ^(M)from where did it come? ^(N)From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^(O)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^(P)we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^(Q)a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

^28 (R)“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^(S)the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^(T)changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(U)the tax collectors and ^(V)the prostitutes go into ^(W)the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you ^(X)in the way of righteousness, and ^(Y)you did not believe him, but ^(Z)the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^(AA)change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (AB)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(AC)a vineyard ^(AD)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(AE)leased it to tenants, and ^(AF)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ^(AG)to get his fruit. ^35 (AH)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(AI)stoned another. ^36 (AJ)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(AK)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(AL)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(AM)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (AN)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(AO)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(AP)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(AQ)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(AS)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(AT)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(AU)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(AV)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(AW)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(AX)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(AY)a prophet.