The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’^{(A) 29} He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The father^[a] went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.^{(B) 32} For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him.^(C)

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away.^{(D) 34} When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.^{(E) 35} But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.^{(F) 36} Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’^{(G) 39} So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”^(H)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits.^{(J) 44} The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.^{(A) 3} He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.^{(B) 4} Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’^{(C) 5} But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.^{(D) 8} Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.^{(E) 9} Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.^(F)

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe,^{(G) 12} and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.^{(H) 13} Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^{(I) 14} For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality.^{(J) 17} Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”^{(K) 18} But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” ²¹ They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”^{(L) 22} When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

The Question about the Resurrection

²³ The same day some Sadducees came to him saying there is no resurrection,^[a] and they asked him a question:^{(M) 24} “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’^{(N) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. ²⁶ The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman herself died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her.”

²⁹ Jesus answered them, “You are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.^{(O) 30} For in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God^[b] in heaven. ³¹ And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the living.”^{(P) 33} And when the crowds heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.^(Q)

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵ and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him.^{(R) 36} “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ³⁷ 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.’^{(S) 38} This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^{(T) 40} On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”^(U)

The Question about David’s Son

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ⁴² “What do you think of the Messiah?^[c] Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”^{(V) 43} He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit^[d] calls him Lord, saying,

⁴⁵ “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?”

Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat;^{(A) 3} therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[a] and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.^{(B) 5} They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.^{(C) 6} They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues^{(D) 7} and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.^{(E) 9} And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven.^{(F) 10} Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.^{[b] 11} The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(G) 12} All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.^(H)

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in you stop them.^{[c](I) 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell^[d] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’^{(J) 17} You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred?^{(K) 18} And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(L) 20} So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it, ²¹ and whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it, ²² and whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.^(M)

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.^{(N) 24} You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate,^[e] so that the outside also may become clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. ³³ You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape the judgment of hell?^{[f] 34} For this reason I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, ³⁵ so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.

The Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁸ See, your house is left to you, desolate.^{[g] 39} For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”^(O)