⁴⁷ And ^(A)He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people ^(B)were trying to put Him to death, ⁴⁸ and yet they could not find ^[a]anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to ^[b]every word He said.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(C)On one of the days while ^(D)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(E)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(F)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[c]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(G)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

^9 (H)But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to ^[d]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Now the ^[e]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(I)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[f]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(J)put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “^(K)May it never happen!” ¹⁷ But ^[g]Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written:

^18 (N)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests ^(O)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them. ^20 (P)And so they watched Him ^[i]closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order ^(Q)that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of ^(R)the governor. ²¹ And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[j]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth. ²² Is it ^[k]permissible for us ^(S)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[l]denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(T)pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^(U)catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.