Luke 20-21

Legacy Standard Bible

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 ^(A)And it happened that on one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)came up to Him, ² and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ And they reasoned 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, for they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither ^[b]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-Growers

^9 (F)And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ^[c]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Now the ^[d]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[e]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never be!” ¹⁷ But when ^[f]Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ And the scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, but they feared the people. For they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ^20 (N)So they watched Him, and sent spies who ^[g]pretended to be righteous, so ^(O)that they might ^[h]catch Him in some statement, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[i]are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. ²² Is it ^[j]lawful for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[k]denarius. Whose ^[l]likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^[m](S)catch Him in a word in the presence of the people; and marveling at His answer, they became silent.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

^27 (T)Now some of the ^(U)Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(V)if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should ^[n]marry the wife and raise up ^[o]seed for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers; and the first married a wife and died childless, ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[p]married her; and in the same way, ^[q]all seven ^[r]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman died also. ³³ Therefore, this woman—in the resurrection—whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(W)this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(X)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶ For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are ^(Y)sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in ^(Z)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the ^[s]Lord ^(AA)the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (AB)Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ^(AC)all live to Him.” ³⁹ And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(AD)they did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (AE)Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[t]Christ is ^(AF)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ so how is He his son?”

^45 (AI)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(AJ)who want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

21 ^(AK)And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. ² And He saw a poor widow putting ^[v]in ^(AL)two ^[w]lepta. ³ And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all put in their gifts out of their abundance; but she, out of what she lacked, put in all ^[x]that she had ^(AM)for living.”

^5 (AN)And while some were talking about the temple, that it had been adorned with beautiful stones and dedicated gifts, He said, ⁶ “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which ^(AO)there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.”

⁷ So they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the ^[y]sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And He said, “See to it that you are not deceived; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(AP)I am He,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ ^(AQ)Do not go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

Signs of Christ’s Return

¹⁰ Then He continued saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, ¹¹ and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great ^[z]signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all these things, ^(AR)they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, ^[aa]bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. ^13 (AS)It will result in ^[ab]an opportunity for your testimony. ^14 (AT)So set in your hearts not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; ¹⁵ for ^(AU)I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. ¹⁶ But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, ¹⁷ and you will be hated by all because of My name. ¹⁸ Yet ^(AV)not a hair of your head will perish. ^19 (AW)By your perseverance you will gain your ^[ac]lives.

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem ^(AX)surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of ^[ad]the city must leave, and ^(AY)those who are in the countryside must not enter ^[ae]the city; ²² because these are ^(AZ)days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for ^(BA)there will be great distress upon the ^[af]land and wrath against this people, ²⁴ and they will fall by ^(BB)the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations, and ^(BC)Jerusalem will be ^(BD)trampled under foot by the Gentiles until ^(BE)the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

When Christ Returns

²⁵ “And there will be ^[ag]signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the ^[ah]world; for the powers of ^[ai]the heavens will be shaken. ^27 (BF)And then they will see ^(BG)the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because ^(BH)your redemption is drawing near.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁹ Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves and you see it for yourselves, ^(BI)know that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, know that ^(BJ)the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this ^[aj]generation will not pass away until all things take place. ^33 (BK)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

³⁴ “^(BL)But be on guard, so that your hearts will not be overcome with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who inhabit the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But ^(BM)keep on the alert at all times, praying earnestly that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to ^(BN)stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Now ^[ak]during the day He was ^(BO)teaching in the temple, but ^[al](BP)during the night He would go out and spend it on ^[am](BQ)the mount called “of ^[an]Olives.” ³⁸ And all the people would get up ^(BR)early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.