The Parable of the Marriage Feast

221 Jesus spoke to them again in parables , saying , 2 " The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king e who gave a wedding feast for his son . 3 "And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast , and they were unwilling e to come . 4 "Again he sent out other slaves saying , 'Tell those who have been invited , "Behold , I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready ; come to the wedding feast ."' 5 "But they paid no attention and went their way , one to his own farm , another e to his business , 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 "But the king was enraged , and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire . 8 "Then he said to his slaves , 'The wedding is ready , but those who were invited were not worthy . 9 'Go therefore to the main highways , and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast .' 10 "Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found , both evil and good ; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests . 11 "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests , he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes , 12 and he said to him, ' Friend , how did you come in here without e wedding clothes ?' And the man was speechless . 13 "Then the king said to the servants , 'Bind him hand and foot , and throw him into the outer darkness ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .' 14 "For many are called , but few are chosen ."

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said . 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians , saying , "Teacher , we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth , and defer to no one ; for You are not partial e to any . 17 "Tell us then , what do You think ? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar , or not?" 18 But Jesus perceived their malice , and said , "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites ? 19 "Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax ." And they brought Him a denarius . 20 And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this ?" 21 They said to Him, "Caesar's ." Then He said to them, " Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's ; and to God the things that are God's ." 22 And hearing this, they were amazed , and leaving Him, they went away .

The Question about the Resurrection

23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection ) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 asking , "Teacher , Moses said , ' IF A MAN DIES HAVING NO CHILDREN , HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL MARRY HIS WIFE , AND RAISE UP CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER .' 25 "Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died , and having no children left his wife to his brother ; 26 so also the second , and the third , down to the seventh . 27 "Last of all , the woman died . 28 "In the resurrection , therefore , whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her." 29 But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken , not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God . 30 "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage , but are like angels in heaven . 31 "But regarding the resurrection of the dead , have you not read what was spoken to you by God : 32 ' I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM , AND THE GOD OF ISAAC , AND THE GOD OF JACOB '? He is not the God of the dead but of the living ." 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching .

The Great Commandment

34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees , they gathered themselves together e e . 35 One of them, a lawyer , asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher , which is the great commandment in the Law ?" 37 And He said to him, " ' YOU SHALL LOVE THE Lord YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART , AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL , AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND .' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment . 39 "The second is like it, ' YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF .' 40 " On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets ."

The Question about David's Son

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together , Jesus asked them a question : 42 "What do you think about the Christ , whose son is He?" They said to Him, " The son of David ." 43 He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord ,' saying , 44 ' THE Lord SAID TO MY Lord , "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND , UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET "'? 45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord ,' how is He his son ?" 46 No one was able to answer Him a word , nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question .

The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

121 And He began to speak to them in parables : " A man PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER , and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey . 2 "At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers , in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers . 3 "They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed . 4 "Again he sent them another slave , and they wounded him in the head , and treated him shamefully . 5 "And he sent another , and that one they killed ; and so with many others , beating some and killing others e . 6 "He had one more to send, a beloved son ; he sent him last of all to them, saying , 'They will respect my son .' 7 "But those vine-growers said to one another , 'This is the heir ; come , let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours !' 8 "They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard . 9 "What will the owner of the vineyard do ? He will come and destroy the vine-growers , and will give the vineyard to others . 10 "Have you not even read this Scripture : ' THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED , THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; 11  THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE Lord , AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES '?" 12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people , for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away .

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement . 14 They came and said to Him, "Teacher , we know that You are truthful and defer to no one ; for You are not partial e to any , but teach the way of God in truth . Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar , or not? 15 "Shall we pay or shall we not pay ?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy , said to them, "Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at." 16 They brought one. And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this ?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's ." 17 And Jesus said to them, " Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's , and to God the things that are God's ." And they were amazed at Him.

The Question about the Resurrection

18 Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection ) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying , 19 "Teacher , Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD , HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER . 20 "There were seven brothers ; and the first took a wife , and died leaving no children . 21 "The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children ; and the third likewise ; 22 and so all seven left no children . Last of all the woman died also . 23 "In the resurrection , when they rise again , which one's wife will she be? For all seven had married her." 24 Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken , that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God ? 25 "For when they rise from the dead , they neither marry nor are given in marriage , but are like angels in heaven . 26 "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again , have you not read in the book of Moses , in the passage about the burning bush , how God spoke to him, saying , ' I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM , AND THE GOD OF ISAAC , and the God of Jacob '? 27 " He is not the God of the dead , but of the living ; you are greatly mistaken ."

The Great Commandment

28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing , and recognizing that He had answered them well , asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all ?" 29 Jesus answered , "The foremost is, ' HEAR , O ISRAEL ! THE Lord OUR GOD IS ONE Lord ; 30  AND 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 .' 31 "The second is this , ' YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF .' There is no other commandment greater than these ." 32 The scribe said to Him, "Right , Teacher ; You have truly e stated that HE IS ONE , AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH , AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF , is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices ." 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently , He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God ." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions .

The Question about David's Son

35 And Jesus began to say , as He taught in the temple , "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David ? 36 "David himself said in the Holy Spirit , ' THE Lord SAID TO MY Lord , "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND , UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET ."' 37 "David himself calls Him 'Lord '; so in what sense is He his son ?" And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.

Jesus Denounces the Scribes

38 In His teaching He was saying : "Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes , and like respectful greetings in the market places , 39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets , 40  who devour widows' houses , and for appearance's sake offer long prayers ; these will receive greater condemnation ."

The Widow's Offering

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury , and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury ; and many rich people were putting in large sums . 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins , which amount to a cent . 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury ; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus , but she, out of her poverty , put in all e she owned , all she had to live on."