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Parable of the Vine-Growers

^1 (C1)And He began to speak to them in parables: "^(C2)A man ^(C3)PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A ^(F1)WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to ^(F2)vine-growers and went on a journey.² "And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine-growers.³ "And they took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.⁴ "And 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.⁶ "He had one more, 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 "And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.⁹ "What will the ^(F1)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:

'^(C1)THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;

^11 (C1)THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE ^(F1)LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?"

^12 (C1)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so ^(C2)they left Him and went away.

Taxes to Caesar

^13 (C1)Then they ^(*)sent some of the Pharisees and ^(C2)Herodians to Him in order to ^(C3)trap Him in a statement.¹⁴ And they ^(*)came and ^(*)said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^(F1)defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^(F2)lawful to pay a 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 ^(F1)denarius to look at."¹⁶ And 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, "^(C1)Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they ^(F1)were amazed at Him.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

^18 (C1)Then some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) ^(*)came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying,¹⁹ "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C1)IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD ^(F1)MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP A SEED FOR HIS BROTHER.²⁰ "There were seven brothers; and the first ^(F1)married a wife, and died leaving no ^(F2)seed.²¹ "And the second one ^(F1)married her, and died leaving behind no seed; and the third likewise;²² and so ^(F1)all seven left no seed. Last of all the woman died also.²³ "In the resurrection, ^(F1)when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For ^(F2)all seven ^(F3)had married her."²⁴ Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^(F1)understand the Scriptures nor 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 ^(F1)regarding the fact that the dead are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(C1)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, '^(C2)I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'?²⁷ "^(C1)He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken."

The Foremost Commandment

^28 (C1)And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he ^(C2)recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, "What commandment is the ^(F1)foremost of all?"²⁹ Jesus answered, "The foremost is, '^(C1)HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE ^(F1)LORD OUR GOD IS ONE ^(F1)LORD;^30 (C1)AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE ^(F1)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, '^(C1)YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."³² And the scribe said to Him, "Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(C1)HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM;^33 (C1)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, ^(C2)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." ^(C1)After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.

^35 (C1)And Jesus began to say, as He ^(C2)taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the ^(F1)Christ is the ^(C3)son of David?³⁶ "David himself said ^(F1)in the Holy Spirit,

'^(C1)THE ^(F2)LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET."'

^38 (C1)And in His teaching He was saying: "Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes, and want ^(C2)respectful greetings in the marketplaces,³⁹ and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,^40 (C1)who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation."

The Widow's Offering

^41 (C1)And He sat down opposite ^(C2)the treasury, and began observing how the crowd was ^(C3)putting ^(F1)money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^(F1)lepta, which amount to a ^(F2)quadrans.⁴³ And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury;⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^(F1)surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^(F2)all she had ^(C1)to live on."