A Mother’s Request^(A)

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons^(B) came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,^(C) 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.”^(D)

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

“We can,” they answered.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,^(F) but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant^(G) with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{(H) 27} and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man^(I) did not come to be served, but to serve,^(J) and to give his life as a ransom^(K) for many.”

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(A)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.^(B) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a](C) to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^(D) and to God what is God’s.”

²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.^(E)