^aOn one of the days, as ^bJesus was instructing the people in the temple area and ^cpreaching the good news (gospel) , ¹the chief priests and the scribes along with the elders ^dconfronted Him, Matt 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33 2 and said to Him, “Tell us by what kind of authority You are doing these things? Or who is the one who gave You this authority?” 3 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you a question. You tell Me: 4 The baptism of John the Baptist—was it from heaven that is, ordained by God or from men?” 5 They discussed and debated it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are firmly convinced that John was a ^aprophet.” 7 So they replied that they did not know from where it came. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what kind of authority I do these things.”

9 ^aThen He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time to another country. Is 5:1-7; Matt 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12 10 At harvest time he sent a servant as his representative to the tenants, so that they would give him his share of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 So he again sent another servant; they also beat him and dishonored and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third; and this one too they wounded and threw out of the vineyard. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^ahave respect for him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘This man is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and ^aput these tenants to death and will give the vineyard to others.” When the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders heard this, they said, “^bMay it never be!” 17 But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is the meaning of this that is written:‘^aTHE very STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,^bTHIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE’? Ps 118:22, 23 18 ^aEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken and shattered in pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.” Is 8:14, 15; Dan 2:34, 35

19 The scribes and the chief priests ^atried to find a way to arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; because they understood that He spoke this parable against them. 20 ^aSo they watched for a chance to trap Him. They sent spies who pretended to be upright and sincere, ^bin order that they might catch Him in some statement that they could distort and use against Him, so that they could turn Him over to the control and authority of Pilate ^cthe governor. Matt 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17 21 They asked Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and that You show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Is it lawful according to Jewish law and tradition for us ^ato pay taxes (tribute money) to ¹Caesar or not?” 23 But He saw through their trickery and said to them, 24 “Show Me a Roman denarius. Whose image and inscription does the coin have?” They answered, “ the Emperor Tiberius Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then ^apay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 They were not able to ^aseize on anything He said in the presence of the people; and being unnerved at His reply, they were silent.

27 ^aNow some of the ^bSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him Matt 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27 28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us a law that ^aIF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES, leaving a wife AND NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER SHOULD ¹MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER. Deut 25:5, 6 29 Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless. 30 And the second, 31 and the third married her, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 So in the life after resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had married her.”

34 Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^athis world and present age marry and the women are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy to gain ^athat other world and that future age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 and they cannot die again, because they are immortal like the angels (equal to, angel-like) . And they are ¹children of God, being ^2aparticipants in the resurrection. 37 But as for the fact that the dead are raised from death, even Moses showed, in ^athe passage about the burning bush, when he calls the Lord ^bTHE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. Ex 3:6 38 ^aNow He is not the God of the dead, but of the living so these forefathers will be among the resurrected; for ^ball live in a definite relationship to Him.” 39 Some of the scribes replied, “Teacher, you have spoken well so that there is no room for blame.” 40 And ^athey did not dare to question Him further about anything because of the wisdom He displayed in His answers.

41 ^aThen He said to them, “How is it that people say that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is ^bDavid’s son? Matt 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,‘^aTHE LORD (the Father) SAID TO MY LORD (the Son, the Messiah) ,“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

44 ¹So David calls Him (the Son) ‘Lord,’ and how then is He David’s son?”

45 ^aAnd with all the people listening, He said to His disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, ^awho like to walk around in long robes displaying their prominence, and love respectful greetings in the crowded market places, and ¹chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. 47 These men who confiscate and devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense to appear devout offer long prayers. These men will receive the greater sentence of condemnation.”

^aAnd it happened that on one of the days while ^bHe was teaching the people in the temple and ^cproclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^dcame up to Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” 3 And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ¹question, and you tell Me: 4 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^aprophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither ¹will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

9 ^aAnd He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ¹vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. 11 And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Now the ¹owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^arespect him.’ 14 But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ¹owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and ^adestroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “^bMay it never be!” 17 But when ¹Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written:‘^aTHE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS HAS BECOME ^bTHE CHIEF CORNER stone’? 18 ^aEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

19 And the scribes and the chief priests ^atried to lay hands on Him that very hour, but they feared the people. For they understood that He spoke this parable against them. 20 ^aSo they watched Him, and sent spies who ¹pretended to be righteous, so ^bthat they might ²catch Him in some statement, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ^cthe governor. 21 And they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ¹are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. 22 Is it ¹lawful for us ^ato pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 23 But He perceived their craftiness and said to them, 24 “Show Me a ¹denarius. Whose ²likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 And He said to them, “Then ^arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were unable to ^1acatch Him in a word in the presence of the people; and marveling at His answer, they became silent.

27 ^aNow some of the ^bSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, 28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^aIF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES, having a wife, AND HE IS CHILDLESS, HIS BROTHER SHOULD ¹MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP ²SEED FOR HIS BROTHER. 29 Now there were seven brothers; and the first married a wife and died childless, 30 and the second 31 and the third ¹married her; and in the same way, ²all seven ³died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died also. 33 Therefore, this woman—in the resurrection—whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^athis age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^athat age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are ^asons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in ^athe passage about the burning bush, where he calls the ¹Lord ^bTHE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. 38 ^aNow He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ^ball live to Him.” 39 And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 For ^athey did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.

41 ^aThen He said to them, “How is it that they say the ¹Christ is ^bDavid’s son? 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,‘^aTHE ¹LORD SAID TO MY LORD,“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

44 Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ so how is He his son?”

45 ^aAnd while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, ^awho want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”