Chronological
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." '
20 One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple. He was telling them God's good news. The chief priests and the scribes came to him with the leaders.
2 They said to him, `Tell us what right you have to do these things. Who gave you the right to do them?'
3 He answered, `I will ask you a question also. Tell me this.
4 Who gave John the right to baptise people? Did God or did men give it to him?'
5 They talked it over together. They said, `If we say, "God gave John the right to do it," he will say, "Then why did you not believe him?"
6 But if we say, "Men gave him the right to do it," then the people will kill us with stones. They believe that John was a prophet of God.'
7 So they answered Jesus, `We do not know who gave him the right to do it.'
8 Then Jesus said to them, `Neither will I tell you what right I have to do these things.'
9 Then Jesus began to tell the people this story. `A man planted a farm. He let some men use the farm. They paid him money for the rent. Then he went to a country far away and stayed a long time.
10 `At harvest time the owner sent one of his servants to the men who used the farm. He wanted to have some fruit from the farm. But the men beat the servant and sent him away without any fruit.
11 So he sent another servant. They beat this one also, and did wrong things to him. And they sent him away without any fruit.
12 He sent a servant the third time. They hurt this one also and threw him out of the farm.
13 `Then the man who owned the farm said, "What shall I do? I will send my dear son. Maybe they will respect him."
14 `But when the men saw him they said to each other, "This is the one who will have everything when his father dies. Let us kill him. Then everything will belong to us."
15 They dragged him off the farm and killed him. `What will the man who owned the farm do to them?
16 He will come back and kill those men. And he will give the farm to other men to use.' When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they said, `May it not be so!'
17 `But Jesus looked right at them. He said, `What about this writing then? "The stone which the builders would not use is now the chief corner stone."
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But if that stone falls on anyone, it will crush him.'
19 The scribes and the chief priests wanted to catch Jesus right then but they feared the people. They understood that he had told this story against them.
20 So they watched for a chance to catch him. And they sent men to spy on him. These men acted as if they were good men. They did this because they wanted to catch him in something that he said. They wanted to give him over to the ruler who would judge and punish him.
21 So they asked Jesus, `Teacher, we know that you talk and teach what is right. You do not fear any person. But you teach the true way of God.
22 Is it right to pay money as taxes to Caesar or is it not?'
23 He knew they were trying to get him into trouble.
24 So he said, `Show me a piece of money. Whose picture and name are on it?' They said, `Caesar's'
25 Then he said to them, `So give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.'
26 They were not able to catch him in anything he said in front of the people. They were surprised at his answer and they could not say anything.
27 Some of the Sadducees came to Jesus. (They say that people do not rise from death.)
28 They came to ask Jesus a question. `Teacher,' they said, `Moses gave us this law: "If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother must marry the wife and raise a family for his brother."
29 There were seven brothers. The first one married. He died and left no children.
30 The second one married the wife.
31 Then the third one married her. All seven brothers married her. They all had no children and they died.
32 Last of all, the woman died also.
33 Now then, when people rise from death, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.'
34 Jesus said to them, `Men and women in this world marry.
35 But men and women who are good enough to have a place in the next world and to be raised from death do not marry.
36 They cannot die again. They are like angels. They are God's children because they have been raised from death.
37 Even Moses showed that people do rise from death. It is in his book where we read about the small tree which burned. Moses says that the Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
38 He is not the God of dead people, but of living people. All people are alive to him.'
39 Some of the scribes said to him, `Teacher, what you say is right.'
40 After that, people were afraid to ask him any more questions.
41 But Jesus asked them, `How can people say that Christ is David's son?
43 David himself says in the book of the Psalms, "The Lord said to my Lord, sit beside me until I make you master over your enemies."
44 So David calls Christ his Lord. How can Christ be David's son?'
45 Then Jesus talked to his disciples while all the people could hear him.
46 He said, `Take care. Do not let the scribes fool you. They like to walk about dressed in long gowns. They want people to greet them in the market. They want to have the front seats in the meeting houses. They want to sit in the best places at feasts.
47 They take away the homes of women whose husbands are dead. They cover up their wrong ways by talking to God a long time. They will be punished more!'
21 Jesus looked around in the temple. He saw the place where the people put in their money. Rich people were putting in their money.
2 And he saw a poor woman whose husband was dead. She put in two small pieces of money.
3 Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. This poor woman has given more than all the other people.
4 All these people had plenty of money and they gave only a part of it. She was poor and she gave everything she had. She has nothing left to live on.'
5 Some people were talking about how nice the temple looked. They talked about the fine stones and the things people gave to make the temple.
6 Jesus said, `You see these things. Not one stone here will be left on top of another. They will all be thrown down!'
7 They asked him, `Teacher, when will this happen? What will be the sign when these things are going to be done?
8 He said, `Take care. Do not let anyone fool you. Many men will come in my name. They will say, "I am Christ." And they will say, "The time is now." Do not go after them.
9 When you hear about wars and fighting, do not fear. These things must happen first, but it is not the end right away.'
10 Then he said, `One tribe will fight against another tribe. And one country will fight against another country.
11 In some places the earth will shake very much. In many places the people will have no food to eat. And many people will be sick. There will be things to make people fear. There will be big signs in the sky.
12 `But before all these things happen, people will catch you and trouble you. They will take you to the meeting houses to be judged. They will put you in prison. They will take you to kings and rulers because you are true to me.
13 This will be a chance for you to talk about me.
14 So do not trouble your minds about what you will say.
15 I will give you words and sense. All those who are against you will not be able to answer your words or say they are not true.
16 Even your parents, brothers, family people, and friends will give you over to trouble. They will kill some of you.
17 All people will hate you because you are true to me.
18 But you will not lose one hair from your heads.
19 If you keep on being true to me, you will live for ever.'
20 `When you see soldiers all around Jerusalem, then you will know that it will soon be broken down.
21 Then the people in Judea must go quickly to the hills. Those who are in the city must leave it. Those who are in the country must not come into the city.
22 Those will be days of punishment. All that has been written in the holy writings must happen.
23 In those days it will be very hard for women who are to have a child. It will be very hard for mothers who have babies. There will be big trouble on the earth. God will show his anger to these people.
24 They will be killed by swords or long knives. They will be taken away as prisoners to every country. Jerusalem will be broken down by people who are not Jews. They will walk over it until the end of their allowed time.'
25 `There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And there will be much trouble for the people on earth. They will not know what to do. It will be like the sound of big waves of the sea.
26 Men will be weak with fear. They will be afraid of the things that will be happening to the world. The powers in the sky will be shaken.
27 Then people will see the sign of the Son of Man in a cloud. He will have much power and will be very great.
28 When these things begin to happen, look up. Lift up your heads. You will soon be free.'
29 Jesus told them a story. He said, `Look at a fig tree. Look at all the trees.
30 As soon as you see the leaves coming, you know that it will soon be the warm time of the year.
31 It is the same way when you see all these things happening. You will know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 I tell you the truth. People who are living then will not die before all these things happen.
33 The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.'
34 `But take care. Do not think too much about eating, drinking, and things in this life. If you do, that day will come and catch you like a trap.
35 That day will come to all people who are living on the whole earth.
36 Watch all the time. Ask God to make you strong to do right so that you will not go through all these things that are going to happen. Ask him to make you able to stand in front of the Son of Man.'
37 Jesus taught in the temple every day. But at night he went out and stayed on the hill called the Mount of Olives.
38 Early in the morning all the people came to hear him in the temple.
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications