Read the Bible

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

¹ Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: ² “The kingdom of heaven³ He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet,⁴ Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business,⁶ while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.⁷ The king

⁸ “Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.⁹ Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’¹⁰ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet¹¹ When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend,

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

God and Caesar

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said.^{(F1)(C1) 16} So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians.^(C1) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality.^{(F1)(C2) 17} Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar^(C1) or not?”

¹⁸ Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites?¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.”²⁰ “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they said to him.

Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”^{(C1) 22} When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

²³ That same day some Sadducees,^(C1) who say there is no resurrection, came up to him and questioned him:^{(C2) 24} “Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(F1)(C1) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second also, and the third, and so on to all seven. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had married her.”^(F1)

²⁹ Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like³¹ Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you 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?

³³ And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Primary Commands

³⁴ When^(C1) the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. ³⁵ And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him:^{(C1) 36} “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.³⁸ This is the greatest and most important³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets depend

The Question about the Christ

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were together, Jesus questioned them,^{(C1) 42} “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They replied, “David’s.”

⁴³ He asked them, “How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit,