Beginning
22 Jesus told them other stories.
2 He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A king made a wedding for his son.
3 The king sent his servants to call the people who had been asked to the wedding. But they would not come.
4 `He sent other servants to call them. He said, "Tell those who were asked to the wedding that my dinner is cooked. The cows and bullocks have been killed. Everything is ready. Come now to the wedding."
5 `The people did not listen, but went away. One went to his farm. One went to his business.
6 The others caught his servants, treated them very badly, and killed them.
7 `The king was very angry. He sent his soldiers to kill the men who had killed his servants. And he burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready. But those who were asked to come were not good enough.
9 Go out on the roads. Call all the people you find to come to the wedding."
10 `So those servants went out on the roads. They brought all the people they could find, both bad and good people. Then the room was full of people for the wedding.
11 `The king came in to look at the people. He saw one man there who was not wearing the right clothes for a wedding.
12 The king said to him, "My friend, why did you come here without putting on the right clothes for a wedding?" The man did not answer.
13 Then the king said to his servants, "Tie his hands and his feet. Put him in a dark place outside. People there will cry and grind [make a noise with] their teeth."
14 `Many people are asked to come, but only a few are chosen.'
15 Then the Pharisees went away. They planned how to make Jesus say something wrong.
16 They sent their disciples to him with some of Herod's people. They said, `Teacher, we know that you are true. We know that you teach the true way of God. You do not fear any person, or care how great he is.
17 So tell us. What do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or is it not?'
18 Jesus knew they were trying to get him into trouble. So he said to them, `Why are you trying to get me to do wrong? You are not true to yourselves!
19 Show me a piece of money used for tax.' They brought him a piece of money.
20 `Whose picture and name is this?' he asked.
21 They said, `Caesar's'. Then he said to them, `Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.'
22 When they heard that, they were surprised. They left him and went away.
23 The same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus. They say that people do not rise from death.
24 They came to ask him a question. They said, `Teacher, Moses gave us this law: "If a man dies and has no children, then his brother must marry the wife and raise a family for his brother."
25 There were seven brothers among us. The first one married. He died and left no children. So his brother married the wife.
26 The same thing happened to the second brother, and the third one, and all seven of them.
27 Last of all, the woman died.
28 Now then, when people rise from death, which of the seven brothers will have her for his wife? They all married her.'
29 Jesus answered, `You are wrong! You do not know what the holy writings say. And you do not know what power God has.
30 When people rise from death, men and women do not marry. But they are like angels in heaven.
31 People do rise from death! Have you never read what God said to you?
32 He said, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." He is not the God of dead people, but of living people.'
33 When the people heard this, they were surprised at his teaching.
34 The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees could not answer Jesus. So they got together.
35 One of them was a man who taught God's law. He asked Jesus a question to try him out.
36 `Teacher,' he said, `which law is the greatest law of all?'
37 Jesus said, ` "Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Love him with all your soul, and love him with all your mind."
38 This is the first and greatest law.
39 The second law of God is like it. "Love your neighbour as you love yourself."
40 All that is written in the books of the law and the books of the prophets is about these two laws.'
41 While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them a question.
42 He said, `What do you think about Christ? Whose son is he?' They said, `He is David's son.'
43 Jesus asked, `Then how can David call him "Lord"? He said, by the Spirit,
44 "The Lord said to my Lord, `Sit beside me until I make you master over your enemies.' "
45 David calls Christ his Lord. How can Christ be David's son?'
46 No one could answer him a word. And after that day, everyone feared to ask him any more questions.
23 Then Jesus talked to the people and to his disciples.
2 He said, `The scribes and Pharisees have taken Moses' place.
3 So obey and do everything they tell you to do. But do not do what they do. They say what should be done, but they do it not.
4 They make heavy loads and put them on people's backs. But they themselves will not put up even one finger to help carry the loads.
5 They do all their work to be seen by people. They wear bigger and bigger boxes with God's word in. And they make wider and wider borders on their gowns.
6 They want to sit in the best places at the feasts. They want to have the front seats in the meeting houses.
7 They want people to greet them in the market, and to call them "Teacher".
8 But people should not call you "Teacher". You have one Teacher. And you are all brothers.
9 `Do not call anyone on earth your "Father". You have one Father. He is in heaven.
10 People should not call you "Master". You have one Master. He is the Christ.
11 The person who is greatest among you will help the others.
12 Anyone who puts himself up will be brought down. And anyone who puts himself down will be brought up.
13 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You are not true to yourselves! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven so people cannot go in. You yourselves do not go in, and you stop those who were going in.
14 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You take away the homes of women whose husbands are dead. You cover up your wrong ways by talking big to God for a long time. Because of that, you will be punished harder.
15 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You travel over sea and land to win one person to believe what you believe. And when he believes, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.
16 `You blind leaders will have trouble. You say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of the temple, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the gold on the temple, he must keep that promise.
17 `You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy?
18 And you say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of God's altar, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the sacrifice, he must keep that promise.
19 `You fools and blind people! Which is greater, the sacrifice or the place that makes the sacrifice holy?
20 So if anyone makes a promise by God's altar, he makes his promise by it and by all that is on it.
21 If anyone makes a promise by the temple, he makes his promise by the temple and by God who lives in the temple.
22 If anyone makes a promise by heaven, he makes his promise by God's big chair called a throne and by God who sits on the throne.
23 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You give God a tenth part of small garden plants. But you have not done those bigger matters of the law. You have not judged in the right way. You have not been kind. You have not believed God. You should be doing these things and the other things too.
24 You blind leaders! You take a fly out of your cup, but you drink down a big animal like a camel!
25 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You wash the outside of a cup and a dish clean. But inside they are full of greed and wrong ways!
26 You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish so that the outside will be clean too.
27 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You are like graves that have been painted white. Outside they look very nice. But inside they are full of dead men's bones and all kinds of dirt.
28 So it is with you. You look right on the outside. But inside you are full of lies and wrong ways.
29 `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You build places to bury the prophets and fix up graves of good men.
30 You say, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have helped to kill the prophets of God."
31 So you prove that you are the sons of the men who killed the prophets.
32 Finish doing what your fathers started to do.
33 You snakes - a whole family of snakes! You cannot get away! You will be judged and sent to hell.
34 That is why I send you prophets, wise men, and teachers. You will kill some of them and nail them to a cross. And you will beat some of them in your meeting houses and trouble them from one town to another.
35 So you will be punished for all the blood of every good man that is on the ground. I mean all the blood from the time of Abel, who was a good man, to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah. You killed him between the temple and God's altar.
36 I tell you the truth. The people who are still living now will be punished for all these things.
37 `Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You throw stones to kill the men who are sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather your people together, as a mother hen gathers her little ones under her wings. But you would not come!
38 Now you are left alone in your house.
39 I tell you this. You will not see me again until the time when you say, "God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord." '
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications