Chronological

23 Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim: ² “The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. ³ So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act! ⁴ They tie heavy loads onto people’s shoulders but won’t lift a finger to help carry them. ⁵ Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t’fillin broad and their tzitziyot long, ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi.’

⁸ “But you are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah! ¹¹ The greatest among you must be your servant, ¹² for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.

¹³ “But woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so. ^14 [a]

¹⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte; and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are!

¹⁶ “Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is more important? the gold? or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.’ ¹⁹ Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy? ²⁰ So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. ²¹ And someone who swears by the Temple swears by it and the One who lives in it. ²² And someone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and the One who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah — justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others! ²⁴ Blind guides! — straining out a gnat, meanwhile swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Parush! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean too.

²⁷ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of rottenness. ²⁸ Likewise, you appear to people from the outside to be good and honest, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and far from Torah.

²⁹ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the tzaddikim, ³⁰ and you say, ‘Had we lived when our fathers did, we would never have taken part in killing the prophets.’ ³¹ In this you testify against yourselves that you are worthy descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Go ahead then, finish what your fathers started!

³³ “You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom? ³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and Torah-teachers — some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵ And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶ Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation!

³⁷ “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! ³⁸ Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate.^{[b] 39} For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’”^[c]

20 One day, as Yeshua was teaching the people at the Temple, making known the Good News, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers, along with the elders, came up to him ² and said, “Tell us, what s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? Who gave you this s’mikhah?” ³ He answered, “I too will ask you a question. Tell me, ⁴ the immersion of Yochanan — was it from Heaven or from a human source?” ⁵ They discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From Heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From a human source,’ all the people will stone us, because they’re convinced that Yochanan was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered, “We don’t know where it came from.” ⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Then I won’t tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things.”

⁹ Next Yeshua told the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to tenant-farmers and went away for a long time. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to receive his share of the crop from the vineyard; but the tenants beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent another servant; they beat him too, insulted him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² He sent yet a third; this one they wounded and threw out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my son, whom I love; maybe they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours!’ ¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and put an end to those tenants and give the vineyard to others!” When the people heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!” ¹⁷ But Yeshua looked searchingly at them and said, “Then what is this which is written in the Tanakh,

¹⁸ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; but if it falls on him, he will be crushed to powder!”

¹⁹ The Torah-teachers and the head cohanim would have seized him at that very moment, because they knew that he had aimed this parable at them, but they were afraid of the people.

²⁰ So they kept a close watch on the situation. They sent spies who hypocritically represented themselves as righteous, so that they might seize hold of something Yeshua said, as an excuse to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. ²¹ They put to him this sh’eilah: “Rabbi, we know that you speak and teach straightforwardly, showing no partiality but really teaching what God’s way is. ²² Does Torah permit us to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor or not?” ²³ But he, spotting their craftiness, said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius! Whose name and picture does it have?” “The Emperor’s,” they replied. ²⁵ “Then,” he said to them, “give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give God what belongs to God!” ²⁶ They were unable to trap him by anything he said publicly; indeed, amazed at his answer, they fell silent.

²⁷ Some Tz’dukim, who say there is no resurrection, came to Yeshua ²⁸ and put to him a sh’eilah: “Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man’s family line.^{[b] 29} Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless, ³⁰ then the second ³¹ and third took her, and likewise all seven, but they all died without leaving children. ³² Lastly, the woman also died. ³³ In the Resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”

³⁴ Yeshua said to them, “In this age, men and women marry; ³⁵ but those judged worthy of the age to come, and of resurrection from the dead, do not get married, ³⁶ because they can no longer die. Being children of the Resurrection, they are like angels; indeed, they are children of God.

³⁷ “But even Moshe showed that the dead are raised; for in the passage about the bush, he calls Adonai ‘the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov.’^{[c] 38} Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living — to him all are alive.”

³⁹ Some of the Torah-teachers answered, “Well spoken, Rabbi.” ⁴⁰ For they no longer dared put to him a sh’eilah. ⁴¹ But he said to them, “How is it that people say the Messiah is David’s son?” ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ David thus calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

⁴⁵ Within the hearing of all the people, Yeshua said to his talmidim, ⁴⁶ “Watch out for the kind of Torah-teachers that like to walk around in robes and be greeted deferentially in the marketplaces, the kind that like to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ the kind that swallow up widows’ houses while making a show of davvening at great length. Their punishment will be all the worse!”

21 Then Yeshua looked up, and as he watched the rich placing their gifts into the Temple offering-boxes, ² he also saw a poor widow put in two small coins. ³ He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ For they, out of their wealth, have contributed money they could easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given all she had to live on.”

⁵ As some people were remarking about the Temple, how beautiful its stonework and memorial decorations were, he said, ⁶ “The time is coming when what you see here will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!” ⁷ They asked him, “Rabbi, if this is so, when will these events take place? And what sign will show that they are about to happen?” ⁸ He answered, “Watch out! Don’t be fooled! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time has come!’ Don’t go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and revolutions, don’t panic. For these things must happen first, but the end will not follow immediately.”

¹⁰ Then he told them, “Peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, ¹¹ there will be great earthquakes, there will be epidemics and famines in various places, and there will be fearful sights and great signs from Heaven. ¹² But before all this, they will arrest you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons; and you will be brought before kings and governors. This will all be on account of me, ¹³ but it will prove an opportunity for you to bear witness. ¹⁴ So make up your minds not to worry, rehearsing your defense beforehand; ¹⁵ for I myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that no adversary will be able to resist or refute. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends; some of you they will have put to death; ¹⁷ and everyone will hate you because of me. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will be lost. ¹⁹ By standing firm you will save your lives.

²⁰ “However, when you see Yerushalayim surrounded by armies, then you are to understand that she is about to be destroyed. ²¹ Those in Y’hudah must escape to the hills, those inside the city must get out, and those in the country must not enter it. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, when everything that has been written in the Tanakh will come true. ²³ What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress in the Land and judgment on the people. ²⁴ Some will fall by the edge of the sword, others will be carried into all the countries of the Goyim, and Yerushalayim will be trampled down by the Goyim until the age of the Goyim has run its course.

²⁵ “There will appear signs in the sun, moon and stars; and on earth, nations will be in anxiety and bewilderment at the sound and surge of the sea, ²⁶ as people faint with fear at the prospect of what is overtaking the world; for the powers in heaven will be shaken.^{[e] 27} And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with tremendous power and glory.^{[f] 28} When these things start to happen, stand up and hold your heads high; because you are about to be liberated!”

²⁹ Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, Indeed, all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves that summer is near. ³¹ In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you are to know that the Kingdom of God is near! ³² Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before it has all happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

³⁴ “But keep watch on yourselves, or your hearts will become dulled by carousing, drunkenness and the worries of everyday living, and that Day will be sprung upon you suddenly like a trap! ³⁵ For it will close in on everyone, no matter where they live, throughout the whole world. ³⁶ Stay alert, always praying that you will have the strength to escape all the things that will happen and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Yeshua spent his days at the Temple, teaching; while at night he went out and stayed on the hill called the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ All the people would rise with the dawn to come and hear him at the Temple courts.