The Parable of the Tenants

¹bAnd he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ca vineyard dand put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and eleased it to tenants and fwent into another country. ²When the season came, he sent a servant1 to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³gAnd they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴gAgain hhe sent to them another servant, and ithey struck him on the head and jtreated him shamefully. ⁵gAnd he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. ⁶He had still one other, ka beloved son. lFinally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷But those tenants said to one another, m‘This is the heir. Come, nlet us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸And they took him and killed him and othrew him out of the vineyard. ⁹What will the owner of the vineyard do? pHe will qcome and destroy the tenants and rgive the vineyard to others. ¹⁰sHave you not read tthis Scripture:

u“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;2

¹¹this was the Lord's doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

¹²And vthey were seeking to arrest him wbut feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they xleft him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³yAnd they sent to him some of zthe Pharisees and some of zthe Herodians, to atrap him in his talk. ¹⁴And they came and said to him, “Teacher, bwe know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For cyou are not swayed by appearances,3 but truly teach dthe way of God. Is it lawful to pay etaxes to fCaesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” ¹⁵But, knowing gtheir hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why hput me to the test? Bring me ia denarius4 and let me look at it.” ¹⁶And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” ¹⁷Jesus said to them, j“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

¹⁸And kSadducees came to him, lwho say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that mif a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man5 must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²²And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because nyou know neither the Scriptures nor othe power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither pmarry nor pare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶And as for the dead being raised, qhave you not read in rthe book of Moses, in sthe passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, t‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

²⁸uAnd one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, v‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, wthe Lord is one. ³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹xThe second is this: y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment zgreater than these.” ³²And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that whe is one, and athere is no other besides him. ³³And to love him with all the heart and with all bthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, cis much more than all dwhole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” eAnd after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

³⁵fAnd as gJesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that hthe Christ is the son of David? ³⁶David himself, iin the Holy Spirit, declared,

j“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies kunder your feet.”’

³⁷David himself calls him Lord. So lhow is he his son?” And the great throng mheard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

³⁸nAnd in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹and have the best seats in the synagogues and othe places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁰pwho devour widows' houses and qfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

⁴¹rAnd he sat down opposite sthe treasury and watched the people tputting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²And a poor widow came and put in two usmall copper coins, which make a penny.6 ⁴³And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, vthis poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her wpoverty has put in everything she had, all xshe had to live on.”

Expand Chapter