Matthew 22-23

New American Standard Bible

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.

Hypocrisy 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, whatever they tell you, do and ^[aa]comply with it all, but do not do ^[ab]as they do; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ And ^(AM)they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. ⁵ And they do all their deeds ^(AN)to be noticed by other people; for they ^(AO)broaden their ^[ac]phylacteries and lengthen ^(AP)the tassels of their garments. ⁶ And they ^(AQ)love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, ⁷ and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ^[ad](AR)Rabbi by the people. ⁸ But as for you, ^(AS)do not be called ^[ae](AT)Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only ^(AU)One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called ^[af]leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ^11 (AV)But the greatest of 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 the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.^[ag]

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

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(BB)blind guides, who say, ‘^(BC)Whoever swears by the ^[ak]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ^[al]temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! ^(BD)Which is ^[am]more important, the gold or the ^[an]temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the ^[ao]offering that is on it is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, ^(BE)which is ^[ap]more important, the ^[aq]offering or the altar that sanctifies the ^[ar]offering? ²⁰ Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by ^[as]the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And the one who swears by the ^[at]temple, swears both by ^[au]the temple and by Him who ^(BF)dwells in it. ²² And the one who swears by ^[av]heaven, ^(BG)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “^(BH)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ^[aw]cumin, 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 ^(BI)blind guides, who ^[ax]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

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

²⁷ “^(BL)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 people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “^(BM)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and you 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 ^(BN)are ^[ba]sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 [bb]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You snakes, ^(BO)you ^[bc]offspring of vipers, how ^[bd]will you escape the ^[be]sentence of ^[bf](BP)hell?

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

Grieving over Jerusalem

³⁷ “^(BY)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^(BZ)kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(CA)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. ³⁸ Behold, ^(CB)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, ‘^(CC)Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”