Study Desk

^(C1)And He began to speak to them in parables: "^(C2)A man ^(C3)planted a vineyard and put a ^(F1)fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^(F2)vine-growers and went on a journey.

"And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

"And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

"And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

"And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

"He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

"But those vine-growers said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

"And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

"What will the ^(F1)owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others.

"Have you not even read this Scripture: '^(C1)A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE ^(F1)CHIEF CORNERSTONE;

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

^(C1)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^(F1)people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(C2)they left Him and went away.

^(C1)Then they ^(*)sent some of the Pharisees and ^(C2)Herodians to Him in order to ^(C3)trap Him in a statement.

They came and ^(*)said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^(F1)do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^(F2)are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^(F3)permissible to pay a ^(F4)poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

"Are we to pay, or not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^(F1)denarius to look at."

And they brought one. And He ^(*)said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's."

And Jesus said to them, "^(C1)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^(C1)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) ^(*)came to ^(F1)Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying,

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C1)if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^(F1)marry the wife and raise up ^(F2)children for his brother.

"There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.

"The second one ^(F1)married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise;

and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died.

"In the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife."

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?

"For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

"But ^(F1)regarding the fact that the dead rise, 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, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'?

"^(C1)He is not the God ^(F1)of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken."

^(C1)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(C2)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the ^(F1)foremost of all?"

Jesus answered, "The ^(F1)foremost is, '^(C1)HEAR, ISRAEL! THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE;

^(C1)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.'

"The second is this: '^(C1)YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(C1)HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES HIM;

^(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 oneself, ^(C2)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."

When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." ^(C1)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^(C1)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(C2)taught in the temple area, "How is it that the scribes say that the ^(F1)Christ is the ^(C3)son of David?

"David himself said ^(F1)in the Holy Spirit, '^(C1)THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET."'

"David himself calls Him 'Lord'; so in what sense is He his son?" And ^(C1)the large crowd ^(F1)enjoyed listening to Him.

^(C1)And in His teaching He was saying: "Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(C2)personal greetings in the marketplaces,

and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets,

^(C1)who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation."

^(C1)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(C2)the treasury, and began watching how the ^(F1)people were ^(C3)putting ^(F2)money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts.

And a poor widow came and put in two ^(F1)lepta coins, which amount to a ^(F2)quadrans.

Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^(F1)the contributors to the treasury;

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."

^(C1)As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples ^(*)said to Him, "Teacher, look! ^(F1)What wonderful stones and ^(F1)what wonderful buildings!"

And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? ^(C1)Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

As He was sitting on ^(C1)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(C2)Peter, ^(F1)James, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately,

"Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the ^(F1)sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"

And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.

"Many will come in My name, saying, '^(C1)I am He!' and they will mislead many.

"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

"For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are only the beginning of birth pains.

"But ^(F1)be on your guard; for they will ^(C1)hand you over to the ^(F2)courts, and you will be flogged ^(C1)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

"^(C1)And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.

"^(C1)And when they ^(F1)arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit.

"And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^(F1)have them put to death.

"And ^(C1)you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

"Now ^(C1)when you see the ^(C2)ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be—^(F1)let the ^(F2)reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

"^(F1)(C1)Whoever is on the ^(F2)housetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house.

"And ^(F1)whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

"But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

"Moreover, pray that it will not happen in winter.

"For those days will be such a time of tribulation as has not occurred ^(C1)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will again.

"And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no ^(F1)life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^(F2)elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

"And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the ^(F1)Christ'; or, 'Look, there He is'; do not believe it;

for false christs and ^(C1)false prophets will arise, and will provide ^(C2)signs and ^(C2)wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect.

"But beware; I have told you everything in advance.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(C1)THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,

^(C1)AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.

"And then they will see ^(C1)THE SON OF MAN ^(C2)COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.

"And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(C1)will gather together His ^(F1)elect from the four winds, ^(C2)from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near.

"So you too, when you see these things happening, ^(F1)recognize that ^(F2)He is near, right at the ^(F3)door.

"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

"^(C1)But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

"Watch out, ^(C1)stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.

"^(C1)It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and ^(F1)putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

"Therefore, ^(C1)stay alert—for you do not know when the ^(F1)master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(C2)when the rooster crows, or ^(C3)in the morning—

so that he does not come suddenly and find you ^(C1)asleep.

"What I say to you I say to all: '^(C1)Stay alert!'"