Matthew 22-24

New American Standard Bible 1995

Parable of the Marriage Feast

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

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the 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 come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into ^(H)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^[f](I)called, but few are ^(J)chosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

^15 (K)Then the Pharisees went and ^[g]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[h]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 ^[i]defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[j]lawful to give a ^(M)poll-tax to ^(N)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[k]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 ^[l]denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(P)Then render 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)leaving Him, they went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (R)On that day some ^(S)Sadducees (who say ^(T)there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴ asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(U)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; ²⁶ so also the second, 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 married her.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(V)not ^[m]understanding 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, and 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 themselves together. ³⁵ One of them, ^[n](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 ^[o]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(AD)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (AE)On these two commandments depend 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 ^[p]the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(AG)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then how does David ^[q](AH)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” ^46 (AJ)No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him ^[r]another question.

Pharisaism Exposed

23 ^(AK)Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: “^(AL)The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; ³ therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. ^4 (AM)They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. ⁵ But they do all their deeds ^(AN)to be noticed by men; for they ^(AO)broaden their ^[s]phylacteries and lengthen ^(AP)the tassels of their garments. ⁶ They ^(AQ)love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called ^(AR)Rabbi by men. ⁸ But ^(AS)do not be called ^(AT)Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for ^(AU)One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Do not be called ^[t]leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ^11 (AV)But the greatest among you shall be your servant. ^12 (AW)Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Eight Woes

¹³ “^(AX)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^(AY)because you shut off the kingdom of heaven ^[u]from ^[v]people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ [^[w]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ^(AZ)you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^[x](BA)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of ^[y](BB)hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(BC)blind guides, who say, ‘^(BD)Whoever swears by the ^[z]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ^[aa]temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! ^(BE)Which is ^[ab]more important, the gold or the ^[ac]temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the ^[ad]offering on it, he is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, ^(BF)which is ^[ae]more important, the ^[af]offering, or the altar that sanctifies the ^[ag]offering? ²⁰ Therefore, ^[ah]whoever swears by the altar, swears both by ^[ai]the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And ^[aj]whoever swears by the ^[ak]temple, swears both by ^[al]the temple and by Him who ^(BG)dwells within it. ²² And ^[am]whoever swears by heaven, ^(BH)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “^(BI)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ^[an]cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You ^(BJ)blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(BK)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ^[ao]of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first ^(BL)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

²⁷ “^(BM)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “^(BN)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you ^(BO)are ^[ap]sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(BP)you brood of vipers, how ^[aq]will you escape the ^[ar]sentence of ^[as](BQ)hell?

³⁴ “^(BR)Therefore, behold, ^(BS)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^(BT)scourge in your synagogues, and ^(BU)persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(BV)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^(BW)son of Berechiah, whom ^(BX)you murdered between the ^[at]temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^(BY)this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷ “^(BZ)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^(CA)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(CB)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. ³⁸ Behold, ^(CC)your house is being left to you desolate! ³⁹ For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘^(CD)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(CE)Jesus ^(CF)came out from the temple and was going away ^[au]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(CG)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on ^(CH)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(CI)Your coming, and of the ^[av]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(CJ)See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ For ^(CK)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[aw]Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You will be hearing of ^(CL)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(CM)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be ^(CN)famines and earthquakes. ^8 (CO)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “^(CP)Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and ^(CQ)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will ^[ax](CR)fall away and will ^[ay]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many ^(CS)false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, ^[az]most people’s love will grow cold. ^13 (CT)But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(CU)gospel of the kingdom ^(CV)shall be preached in the whole ^[ba](CW)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(CX)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(CY)the holy place (^(CZ)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [bb]Whoever is on ^(DA)the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ^18 [bc]Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(DB)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(DC)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. ²² Unless those days had been cut short, no ^[bd]life would have been saved; but for ^(DD)the sake of the ^[be]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (DE)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[bf]Christ,’ or ‘^[bg]There He is,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false Christs and ^(DF)false prophets will arise and will ^[bh]show great ^[bi](DG)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(DH)the ^[bj]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (DI)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the ^(DJ)coming of the ^(DK)Son of Man be. ^28 (DL)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[bk]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(DM)tribulation of those days ^(DN)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(DO)the stars will fall from ^[bl]the sky, and the powers of ^[bm]the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(DP)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(DQ)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(DR)He will send forth His angels with ^(DS)a great trumpet and they will gather together His ^[bn](DT)elect from ^(DU)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so, you too, when you see all these things, ^[bo]recognize that ^[bp]He is near, right ^(DV)at the ^[bq]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(DW)this ^[br]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (DX)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(DY)of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[bs]the ^(DZ)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(EA)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(EB)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(EC)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[bt]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(ED)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then there will be two men in the field; one ^[bu]will be taken and one ^[bv]will be left. ^41 (EE)Two women will be grinding at the ^[bw](EF)mill; one ^[bx]will be taken and one ^[by]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(EG)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[bz]be sure of this, that ^(EH)if the head of the house had known ^(EI)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be ^[ca]broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(EJ)you also must be ready; for ^(EK)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(EL)Who then is the ^(EM)faithful and ^(EN)sensible slave whom his ^[cb]master ^(EO)put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[cc]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(EP)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[cd]master ^[ce]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; ⁵⁰ the ^[cf]master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, ⁵¹ and will ^[cg]cut him in pieces and ^[ch]assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(EQ)weeping and gnashing of teeth.