Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is like ^[b]a king who ^[c]held a ^(B)wedding feast for his son. ³ And he ^(C)sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he ^(D)sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own ^[d]farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. ⁷ Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go to ^(E)the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[e]dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the ^[f]dinner guests, he saw ^(F)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘^(G)Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into ^(H)the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^[g](I)called, but few are ^(J)chosen.”

Poll-tax to Caesar

^15 (K)Then the Pharisees went and ^[h]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[i]in what He said. ¹⁶ And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(L)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ^[j]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[k]are not partial to anyone. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[l]permissible to pay a ^[m](M)poll-tax to ^(N)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[n]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the ^(O)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a ^[o]denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(P)Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² And hearing this, they were amazed; and ^(Q)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (R)On that day some ^(S)Sadducees (who say ^(T)there is no resurrection) came to ^[p]Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(U)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up ^[q]children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no ^[r]children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(V)since you do not ^[s]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither ^(W)marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ³² ‘^(X)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ When the crowds heard this, ^(Y)they were astonished at His teaching.

^34 (Z)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(AA)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, ^[t](AB)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(AC)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[u]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(AD)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (AE)Upon these two commandments ^[v]hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

^41 (AF)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴² “What do you think about the ^[w]Christ? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(AG)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then ^[x]how does David ^[y](AH)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ ^[z]how is He his son?” ^46 (AJ)No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.

Parable of the Vine-growers

12 ^(A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “^(B)A man ^(C)planted a vineyard and put a ^[a]fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers and went on a journey. ² And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the ^[c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^[e]people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(G)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes

^13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(I)Herodians to Him in order to ^(J)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[f]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[g]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[h]permissible to pay a ^[i]poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[j]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(K)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to ^[k]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^[l]marry the wife and raise up ^[m]children for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[n]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[o]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[p]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(O)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (P)He is not the God ^[q]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (Q)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[r]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The ^[s]foremost is, ‘^(S)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; ^30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘^(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(V)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; ^33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(X)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(Y)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^35 (Z)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(AA)taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the ^[t]Christ is the ^(AB)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[u]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(AD)the large crowd ^[v]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (AE)And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(AF)personal greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

The Widow’s Coins

^41 (AH)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(AI)the treasury, and began watching how the ^[w]people were ^(AJ)putting ^[x]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^[y]lepta coins, which amount to a ^[z]quadrans. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[aa]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[ab]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[ac]all she had ^(AK)to live on.”