Beginning
The Parable about a Banquet(A)
22 Again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said, 2 “The kingdom from[a] heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. 4 So[b] he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’ 5 But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest grabbed the king’s[c] servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. 7 Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’ 10 Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.
11 “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man[d] was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,[e] 14 because many are invited, but few are chosen.”
A Question about Paying Taxes(B)
15 Then the Pharisees went and planned how to trap Jesus[f] in conversation. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.[g] They said, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 Recognizing their wickedness, Jesus asked, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.”
They brought him a denarius.[h] 20 Then he asked them, “Whose face and name is this?”
21 They told him, “Caesar’s.”
So he told them, “Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.
A Question about the Resurrection(C)
23 That same day some Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection, came to Jesus[i] and asked him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for his brother.’[j] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened with the second brother, and then the third, and finally with the rest of the brothers.[k] 27 Finally, the woman died, too. 28 Now in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be, since all of them had married[l] her?”
29 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power, 30 because in the resurrection, people[m] neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels[n] in heaven. 31 As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God when he said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[o] He[p] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
The Greatest Commandment(D)
34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus[q] had silenced the Sadducees, they met together in the same place. 35 One of them, an expert in the Law, tested him by asking, 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus[r] told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[s] 38 This is the greatest and most important[t] commandment. 39 The second is exactly like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’[u] 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
A Question about David’s Son(E)
41 While the Pharisees were still[v] gathered, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah?[w] Whose son is he?”
They told him, “David’s.”
43 He asked them, “Then how can David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord’ when he says,
44 ‘The Lord[x] told my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’?[y]
45 If David calls him ‘Lord’, how can he be his son?”
46 No one could answer him at all,[z] and from that day on no one dared to ask him another question.
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and the Pharisees(F)
23 Then Jesus told the crowds and his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees administer the authority of Moses,[aa] 3 so do whatever they tell you and follow it, but stop doing what they do, because they don’t do what they say. 4 They tie up burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to remove them.
5 “They do everything to be seen by people. They increase the size of their phylacteries[ab] and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 They love to have the places of honor at festivals, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’[ac] by people.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’[ad] because you have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father,’ because you have only one Father, the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘Teachers,’ because you have only one teacher, the Messiah![ae] 11 The person who is greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from[af] heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.
14 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation![ag]
15 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for[ah] hell[ai] as you are.
16 “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused,[aj] but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’[ak] 17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? 18 Again you say,[al] ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,[am] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’[an] 19 You blind men![ao] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. 22 And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.[ap] These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!
25 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[aq] so that its outside may also be clean.
27 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding[ar] the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Then finish what your ancestors started![as] 33 You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?[at]
34 “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. 35 As a result, you will be held accountable for[au] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel[av] to the blood of Berechiah’s son Zechariah,[aw] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell all of you[ax] with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”[ay]
Jesus Rebukes Jerusalem(G)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38 Look! Your house is left abandoned! 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[az]
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