Matthew 22
Expanded Bible
A Story About a Wedding Feast(A)
22 Jesus again used ·stories [parables] to teach them. He said, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding ·feast [banquet] for his son. 3 When the ·feast [banquet] was ready, the king sent his servants to ·tell [inform; call] the people who had been invited, but they refused to come.
4 “Then the king sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my ·feast [banquet] is ready. I have killed my best ·bulls [or oxen] and [L fattened] calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding ·feast [banquet].’
5 “But the people ·refused to listen [paid no attention] to the servants and ·left to do other things [went their own way]. One went to ·work in his field [his field/farm], and another went to his business. 6 ·Some of the other people [or The rest] grabbed the servants, ·beat [mistreated; insulted] them, and killed them. 7 The king was furious and sent his army to ·kill [destroy] the murderers and burn their city [C probably an allusion to the destruction of Jerusalam in ad 70].
8 “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding ·feast [banquet] is ready. I invited those people, but they ·were not worthy [do not deserve] to come. 9 So go to the ·street corners [crossroads; or main roads] and invite everyone you find to come to my ·feast [banquet].’ 10 So the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and ·bad [evil]. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “[L But] When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not dressed ·for a wedding [in wedding clothes]. 12 The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not dressed for a wedding.’ But the man ·said nothing [was speechless/silent]. 13 So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the ·darkness [darkness outside; or outermost darkness], where ·people will cry and grind their teeth with pain [L there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; C symbols of agony and torment].’
14 “·Yes [L For], many are ·invited [called], but only a few are chosen.”
Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?(B)
15 Then the Pharisees left that place and ·made plans [plotted] to ·trap [catch] Jesus in ·saying something wrong [his words]. 16 They sent some of their own ·followers [disciples] and some people from the group called Herodians [C a political group that supported king Herod and his family]. They said, “Teacher, we know that you are ·an honest man [true; sincere] and that you teach ·the truth [with sincerity/honesty] about God’s way. You are not ·afraid of [L concerned about] what other people think about you, because you ·pay no attention to who they are [play no favorites; are impartial; aren’t swayed by appearances]. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it ·right [permissible; lawful] to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [C Saying “yes” would anger Jews who hated Roman rule; saying “no” could result in being charged with insurrection.]
18 But knowing ·that these leaders were trying to trick him [their evil/malicious motives], Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Why are you ·trying to trap [testing] me? 19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” So the men ·showed him a coin [L brought him a denarius; C a Roman coin worth a day’s wages]. 20 Then Jesus asked, “Whose ·image [likeness; portrait] and ·name [inscription] are on the coin?”
21 The men answered, “Caesar’s.” [C Ironically, the religious leaders were carrying coins bearing the idolatrous image of Caesar.]
Then Jesus said to them, “·Give [T Render] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus(C)
23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) 24 They said, “Teacher, Moses said if a married man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and ·have children [L raise up offspring/seed] for him [Deut. 25:5]. 25 Once there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died. Since he had no ·children [offspring], his brother married the widow. 26 Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother ·and all the other brothers [L down to the seventh]. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Since all seven men had married her, ·when people rise from the dead [L at the resurrection], whose wife will she be?”
29 Jesus answered, “You ·don’t understand [are mistaken/deceived], because you don’t know what the Scriptures say, and you don’t know about the power of God. 30 [L For] ·When people rise from the dead [L At the resurrection], they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 ·Surely you have read [L Have you not read…?] what God said to you ·about rising [concerning the resurrection] from the dead. 32 God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; C God is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ God is the God of the living, not the dead.”
33 When the people heard this, they were ·amazed [astounded] at Jesus’ teaching.
The Most Important Command(D)
34 When the Pharisees learned that ·the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them [L Jesus had silenced the Sadducees], the Pharisees met together. 35 One Pharisee, who was an expert on the law of Moses, asked Jesus this question to ·test [trap] him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the ·most important [greatest]?”
37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].’ 38 This is the first and ·most important [greatest] command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].’ 40 All the law and the ·writings of the prophets [L prophets] ·depend [are based; L hang] on these two commands.”
Jesus Questions the Pharisees(E)
41 While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the ·Christ [Messiah]? Whose ·son [descendant] is he?”
They answered, “The Son of David [see 2 Sam. 7:12].”
43 Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David, speaking ·by the power of the Holy Spirit [L in/by the Spirit], said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right ·side [L hand; C the place of greatest honor beside the king],
until I put your enemies ·under your control [L beneath your feet; C meaning defeated or made subject to your authority; Ps. 110:1].”’
45 David calls ·the Christ [the Messiah; L him] ‘Lord,’ so how can ·the Christ [the Messiah; L he] be his son?”
46 ·None of the Pharisees [L No one] could answer ·Jesus’ question [a word], and after that day no one ·was brave enough [dared] to ask him any more questions.
马太福音 22
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
王宴客的比喻
22 耶稣又用比喻对他们说： 2 “天国就像一个王为儿子筹备婚宴。 3 他派奴仆去请受邀的客人，可是客人都不肯赴宴。 4 王再派其他奴仆去，说，‘去告诉被邀请的人，我的宴席已经备好，公牛和肥畜都宰了，一切都预备妥当，来赴婚宴吧！’ 5 那些人却毫不理会地走了，一个去种田，一个去做买卖， 6 其余的竟然抓住王的奴仆，把他们羞辱一番后杀了。 7 王大怒，派军队去剿灭凶手，烧毁他们的城。
8 “然后，他对奴仆说，‘婚宴已预备好了，只是被邀请的人不配。 9 所以你们到街头巷尾，把所有见到的人都请来。’ 10 奴仆到街上把遇到的人都请了来，好人坏人都有，大厅里满了客人。
11 “王出来会见在座的客人，发现有一个人没有穿礼服， 12 就问他，‘朋友，你来这里怎么不穿婚宴的礼服呢？’那人无言以对。 13 王便吩咐侍从，‘把他手脚绑起来丢到外面的黑暗里，让他在那里哀哭切齿。’”
14 耶稣又说：“被邀请的人多，选上的人少。”
以纳税问题刁难耶稣
15 那时，法利赛人出去策划怎样从耶稣的话里找把柄陷害祂。 16 他们派了自己的门徒跟希律党人一同去问耶稣：“老师，我们知道你诚实无伪，按真理传上帝的道，你不徇情面，不以貌取人。 17 那么请告诉我们，纳税给凯撒对不对呢？”
18 耶稣看出了他们的恶意，就说：“你们这些伪君子，为什么试探我呢？ 19 拿一个纳税用的钱币来给我看。”他们就拿给祂一个银币。
20 耶稣问他们：“上面刻的是谁的像和名号？”
21 他们说：“凯撒的。”
耶稣说：“那么，属于凯撒的东西应该给凯撒，属于上帝的东西应该给上帝。” 22 他们听了很惊奇，只好离开祂走了。
论复活
23 同一天，不相信死人会复活的撒都该人也来问耶稣， 24 说：“老师，摩西说，‘如果一个人死了，没有儿女，只留下妻子，他的兄弟就当娶嫂嫂，替哥哥传宗接代。’ 25 从前，我们这里有弟兄七人，老大结了婚，没有孩子就死了，把妻子留给了弟弟。 26 二弟、三弟一直到七弟都相继娶了嫂嫂，都没留下孩子。 27 最后，那女人也死了。 28 那么，到复活的时候，她将是谁的妻子呢？因为他们都娶过她。”
29 耶稣说：“你们弄错了。你们不明白圣经，也不知道上帝的能力。 30 因为到复活的时候，人们将不娶也不嫁，就像天上的天使一样。
31 “关于死人复活的事，难道你们没有读过上帝对你们说过的话吗？ 32 祂说，‘我是亚伯拉罕的上帝，以撒的上帝，雅各的上帝。’上帝不是死人的上帝，而是活人的上帝。” 33 众人听到祂的教导都很惊奇。
最大的诫命
34 法利赛人听见耶稣使撒都该人无言以对，就聚集在一起。 35 其中有位律法专家试探耶稣说： 36 “老师，请问律法中哪一条诫命最重要呢？”
37 耶稣回答说：“‘你要全心、全情、全意爱主——你的上帝’， 38 这是第一条也是最重要的诫命。 39 第二条也相似，就是‘要爱邻如己’。 40 律法和先知的全部教导都以这两条诫命为基础。”
基督的身份
41 耶稣趁着法利赛人聚在那里，就问他们： 42 “你们对基督有何看法？祂是谁的后裔？”他们答道：“大卫的后裔。”
43 耶稣说：“那么，为什么大卫受圣灵感动，称祂为主呢？大卫曾说，
44 “‘主对我主说，
你坐在我的右边，
等我使你的仇敌伏在你脚下。’
45 既然大卫称基督为主，基督又怎么会是大卫的后裔呢？” 46 没人能回答耶稣的问题。从此再没有人敢用问题来刁难耶稣了。
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