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.”

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Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

¹yAnd as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? zThere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³And as he sat on athe Mount of Olives opposite the temple, bPeter and James and John and cAndrew asked him dprivately, ⁴“Tell us, ewhen will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” ⁵And Jesus began to say to them, f“See that no one leads you astray. ⁶gMany will come in my name, saying, h‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁷And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, ido not be alarmed. This jmust take place, but the end is not yet. ⁸For knation will rise against nation, and lkingdom against kingdom. There will be mearthquakes in various places; there will be nfamines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹o“But pbe on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten qin synagogues, and you will stand before rgovernors and skings for my sake, tto bear witness before them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be proclaimed uto all nations. ¹¹And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, vdo not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say wwhatever is given you in that hour, xfor it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²yAnd brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ¹³zAnd you will be hated by all for my name's sake. aBut the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴“But when you see bthe abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (clet the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵dLet the one who is on ethe housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, ¹⁶and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁷And falas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be gsuch htribulation as has not been ifrom the beginning of the creation that jGod created until now, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for kthe sake of the elect, whom lhe chose, he shortened the days. ²¹And mthen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²²nFor false christs and false prophets will arise and operform signs and wonders, pto lead astray, if possible, qthe elect. ²³But rbe on guard; sI have told you all things beforehand.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴“But in those days, after tthat tribulation, uthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and vthe stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see wthe Son of Man coming in clouds xwith great power and glory. ²⁷And then yhe will send out the angels and zgather ahis elect from bthe four winds, from cthe ends of the earth dto the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁸“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, eat the very gates. ³⁰fTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹gHeaven and earth will pass away, but hmy words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day or Hour

³²“But concerning that day or that hour, ino one knows, not even the angels in heaven, jnor the Son, kbut only the Father. ³³lBe on guard, mkeep awake.1 For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴nIt is like a man ogoing on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants2 in charge, peach with his work, and commands qthe doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵rTherefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, sin the evening, or sat midnight, or twhen the rooster crows,3 or uin the morning— ³⁶lest vhe come suddenly and wfind you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: rStay awake.”

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