Chronological

Christ cries woe over the Pharisees, scribes, and hypocrites, and prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem.

23 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his disciples, ² saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ All therefore that they bid you to observe, that observe and do. But do not follow their works. For they say, but do not do. ⁴ Yea and they bind up heavy burdens, grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to carry them themselves.

⁵ All their works they do to be seen by men. They enlarge their phylacteries, and make large borders on their garments. ⁶ They love to sit uppermost at feasts, and to have the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and greetings in the markets, and to be called Rabbi by men.

⁸ But you shall not suffer yourselves to be called Rabbi. For one is your Master, that is, Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ And call no man upon the earth your father, for there is but one your Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Do not be called teachers, for there is but one your Teacher, and he is Christ. ¹¹ He who is greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² But whosoever exalts himself, shall be brought low. And he who humbles himself, shall be exalted.

¹³ Woe is to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven before men. You yourselves go not in, neither do you suffer those who come to enter in.

¹⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses, and that under a colour of praying long prayers, for which you shall receive the greater damnation.

¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who compass land and sea to bring one person into your belief. And when he is brought in, you make him twofold more the child of hell than you yourselves are.

¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides, who say that if someone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but whosoever swears by the gold of the temple, he offends. ¹⁷ O fools, and blind! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸ And whosoever swears by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering that lies on the altar, offends – ¹⁹ Ye fools, and blind! Which is greater: the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? ²⁰ Whoever therefore swears by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells therein. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by the seat of God and by him who sits upon it.

²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who tithe mint, anise, and cummin, and leave the weightier matters of the law undone: judgment, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, and not to have left the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of greed and excess. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee: cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, so that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like painted tombs, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead bones and of all uncleanness. ²⁸ This is how you are, for outwardly you appear righteous to men, when within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchres of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets. ³¹ So then, you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the children of those who killed the prophets! ³² Fill up then likewise the cup of your fathers. ³³ Serpents and offspring of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of hell?

³⁴ And so behold: I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills prophets, and stones those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together, as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not. ³⁸ Behold, your habitation shall be left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I say to you, you will not see me henceforth until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

They ask Christ one question, and he asks them another. The parable of the vineyard. Of tribute to be given to Caesar, and how Christ stops the mouths of the Sadducees.

20 And it happened in one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the high priests and the scribes came with the elders ² and spoke to him, saying, Tell us by what authority you do these things. Or who is it that gave you this authority? ³ He answered and said to them, I also will ask you a question, and answer me. ⁴ The baptism of John: was it from heaven, or of men?

⁵ And they thought within themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? ⁶ But if we say of men, all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John is a prophet. ⁷ And they answered that they did not know where it was from.

⁸ And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

⁹ Then he began and put forth to the people this similitude: A certain man planted a vineyard and let it out to farmers, and went himself into a far country for a great season. ¹⁰ And when the time came, he sent a servant to his tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruits of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And again he sent yet another servant. And they beat him and grievously used him also, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² Moreover he sent a third too, and him they wounded and cast out.

¹³ Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my dear son; him perhaps they will respect, when they see him. ¹⁴ But when the farmers saw him, they thought in themselves, saying, This is the heir; come, let us kill him so that the inheritance can be ours. ¹⁵ And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the lord of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy these farmers, and will let out his vineyard to others.

When they heard that, they said, God forbid!

¹⁷ And he looked upon them and said, What then does this mean that is written: The stone that the builders refused, the same is made the head cornerstone; ¹⁸ whosoever stumbles at that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder?

¹⁹ And the high priests and the scribes in that same hour went about to lay hands on him, but they feared the people. For they perceived that he had spoken this similitude against them.

²⁰ And they watched him, and sent forth spies who would pretend to be sincere, to take him in his words, and to deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹ And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that you say and teach right, and do not consider any man’s degree, but teach the way of God truly. ²² Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar, or no?

²³ He perceived their craftiness and said to them, Why do you bait me? ²⁴ Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription does it have?

They answered and said, Caesar’s.

²⁵ And he said to them, Give then to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and to God that which belongs to God.

²⁶ And they could not reprove his saying before the people. But they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

²⁷ Then there came to him certain of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection. ²⁸ And they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if any man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no issue, then his brother should take his wife and raise up seed for his brother. ²⁹ There were seven brethren, and the first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰ And the second took the wife, but he died childless. ³¹ And the third took her, and so on likewise the rest of the seven, leaving no children behind them, and died. ³² Last of all, the woman died also. ³³ Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the brothers? For seven had her as wife.

³⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, The children of this world marry and are married, ³⁵ but those who will be made worthy to enjoy that world, and the resurrection from death, neither marry, nor are married, ³⁶ nor yet can die any more. For they are like the angels, and are the sons of God inasmuch as they are the children of the resurrection. ³⁷ And that the dead shall rise again, even Moses signified in his account of the bush when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For all live in him.

³⁹ Then certain of the Pharisees answered and said, Teacher, you have well said. ⁴⁰ And after that they dared not ask him any question at all.

⁴¹ Then he said to them, How is it they say that Christ is David’s son? ⁴² And David himself says in the book of the Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, ⁴³ till I make your enemies your footstool. ⁴⁴ Seeing David calls him Lord, how is he then his son?

⁴⁵ Then, in the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long clothing, and love greetings in the markets, the highest seats in the synagogues, and the places of honour at feasts; ⁴⁷ who devour widows’ houses, and that under a colour of long praying. The same shall receive greater damnation.

Christ commends the poor widow. He tells of the destruction of Jerusalem, of false teachers, of the signs and troubles to come, of the end of the world, and of his own coming.

21 As he looked on, he saw the rich, how they cast their offerings into the treasury. ² And he saw also a certain poor widow who cast in two small coins, ³ and he said, Of a truth I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all have added to the offering to God out of their surplus, but she, of her penury, has cast in all the substance that she had.

⁵ When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and jewels, Jesus said, ⁶ The days will come when of these things that you see, there will not be left stone upon stone that shall not be thrown down. ⁷ And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when will these things be? And what sign will there be when such things are about to happen?

⁸ And he said, Take heed that you be not deceived. For many will come in my name, saying, I am he. And the time draws near. You must not follow them therefore. ⁹ But when you hear of war and dissension, do not be afraid. For these things must come first. But the end will not follow immediately.

¹⁰ Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ And great earthquakes will be in all quarters, and hunger and pestilence, and fearful things. And there will be great signs from heaven. ¹² But before all these, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prison, and will bring you before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. ¹³ And this will happen to you for a testimony.

¹⁴ Let it therefore stick fast in your hearts not once to concern yourselves beforehand what to answer, ¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom against which none of your adversaries will be able to speak or resist.

¹⁶ Yea and you will be betrayed by your fathers and mothers, and by your brethren and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ¹⁷ And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake. ¹⁸ Yet not one hair of your heads shall perish. ¹⁹ With your patience possess your souls.

²⁰ And when you see Jerusalem besieged with a host, then understand that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let the people who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the city get out. And let not those who are in other countries enter in. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfil all the things that are written. ²³ But woe will be to women who are with child and to those who give suck in those days, for there will be great trouble in the land, and wrath over all this people. ²⁴ And they will fall on the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden under foot by the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.

²⁵ And there will be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and in the earth the people will be in such perplexity that they will not know which way to turn. The sea and the waters will roar, ²⁶ and men’s hearts will fail them for fear, and for the dread of those things which shall come on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall move. ²⁷ And then shall they see the Son of man come in a cloud, with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.

²⁹ And he told them a similitude: Consider the fig tree, and all other trees. ³⁰ When they shoot forth their buds, you see and can tell for your own selves that summer is then nigh at hand. ³¹ So likewise, when you see these things come to pass, understand that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass till all be fulfilled. ³³ Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

³⁴ Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overcome with excess of eating, and drunkenness, and worldly cares, and that day come on you unawares. ³⁵ For as a snare shall it come upon all who sit on the face of the earth. ³⁶ Watch therefore continually, and pray that you may obtain grace to escape all this that is to come, and that you may stand before the Son of man.

³⁷ In the daytime he taught in the temple, and at night he went out and stayed on the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ And all the people came to him in the morning in the temple, to hear him.