¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’^(A)

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”^(B)

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time^(C)

¹⁷ Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, ¹⁸ “We are going up to Jerusalem,^(D) and the Son of Man^(E) will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.^(F) They will condemn him to death ¹⁹ and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged^(G) and crucified.^(H) On the third day^(I) he will be raised to life!”^(J)

A Mother’s Request^(K)

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons^(L) came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,^(M) asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”^(N)

²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup^(O) I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(A)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians^(B) to Jesus to catch him^(C) in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a] to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”^(D)

And they were amazed at him.