Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(A)

^12 (B)Then Jesus went into the temple ^[a]of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the ^(C)money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ^(D)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ^(E)‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the ^(F)Son of David!” they were ^[b]indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

¹⁷ Then He left them and ^(H)went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(A)

^23 (B)Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and ^(C)said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The ^(D)baptism of ^(E)John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we ^(F)fear the multitude, ^(G)for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “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 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my ^(H)vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^(I)“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For ^(J)John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^(K)but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[a]relent and believe him.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(A)

^15 (B)So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold ^(C)doves. ¹⁶ And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. ¹⁷ Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ^(D)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ^(E)‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁸ And ^(F)the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because ^(G)all the people were astonished at His teaching. ¹⁹ When evening had come, He went out of the city.

²⁴ Therefore I say to you, ^(A)whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Forgiveness and Prayer^(B)

²⁵ “And whenever you stand praying, ^(C)if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. ^26 [a]But ^(D)if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(E)

²⁷ Then they came again to Jerusalem. ^(F)And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. ²⁸ And they said to Him, “By what ^(G)authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: ³⁰ The ^(H)baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for ^(I)all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. ³³ So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

⁴ Again he sent them another servant, ^[a]and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. ⁵ And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, ^(A)beating some and killing some. ⁶ Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those ^[b]vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and ^(B)killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (D)And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(E)

^13 (F)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴ When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and ^[c]care about no one; for You do not ^[d]regard the person of men, but teach the ^(G)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their ^(H)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶ So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said to them, ^[e]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to ^(I)God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(J)

^18 (K)Then some Sadducees, ^(L)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹ “Teacher, ^(M)Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²² So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[f]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^(N)are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead, that they ^(O)rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(P)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly ^[g]mistaken.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(Q)

^28 (R)Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ^[h]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ^[i]first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[j]first of all the commandments is: ^(S)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(T)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[k]This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(U)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(V)these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(W)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[l]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(X)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(Y)But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(Z)

^35 (AA)Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? ³⁶ For David himself said ^(AB)by the Holy Spirit:

³⁷ Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his ^(AD)Son?”

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes^(AE)

³⁸ Then ^(AF)He said to them in His teaching, ^(AG)“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, ^(AH)love greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the ^(AI)best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ^40 (AJ)who devour widows’ houses, and ^[m]for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Two Mites^(AK)

^41 (AL)Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money ^(AM)into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two ^[n]mites, which make a ^[o]quadrans. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that ^(AN)this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, ^(AO)her whole livelihood.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(A)

^45 (B)Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who ^[a]bought and sold in it, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ^(C)‘My house ^[b]is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ^(D)‘den of thieves.’ ”

⁴⁷ And He ^(E)was teaching daily in the temple. But ^(F)the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, ⁴⁸ and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to ^(G)hear Him.

The Widow’s Two Mites^(A)

21 And He looked up ^(B)and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain ^(C)poor widow putting in two ^(D)mites.^{[a] 3} So He said, “Truly I say to you ^(E)that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings ^[b]for God, but she out of her poverty put in ^(F)all the livelihood that she had.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree^(A)

^29 (B)Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. ^33 (C)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My ^(D)words will by no means pass away.