Chapter 22

Parable of the Marriage Feast

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

2 “aThe kingdom of heaven 1may be compared to 2a king who 3gave a bwedding feast for his son.

3 “And he asent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

4 “Again he asent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’

5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own 1farm, another to his business,

6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

8 “Then he * said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

9 ‘Go therefore to athe main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with 1dinner guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw aa man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

12 and he * said to him, ‘aFriend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into athe outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are 1acalled, but few are achosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

15 aThen the Pharisees went and 1plotted together how they might trap Him 2in what He said.

16 And they * sent their disciples to Him, along with the aHerodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and 1defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.

17 “Tell us then, what do You think? Is it 1lawful to give a apoll-tax to bCaesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus perceived their 1malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?

19 “Show Me the acoin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a 1denarius.

20 And He * said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

21 They * said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He * said to them, “aThen render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and aleaving Him, they went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

23 aOn that day some bSadducees (who say cthere is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,

24 asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘aIf a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

25 “Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother;

26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh.

27 “Last of all, the woman died.

28 “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, anot 1understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.

30 “For in the resurrection they neither amarry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:

32 ‘aI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

33 When the crowds heard this, athey were astonished at His teaching.

34 aBut when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced bthe Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

35 One of them, 1aa lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “ ‘aYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 “This is the great and 1foremost commandment.

39 “The second is like it, ‘aYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 “aOn these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

41 aNow while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

42 “What do you think about 1the Christ, whose son is He?” They * said to Him, “aThe son of David.”

43 He * said to them, “Then how does David 1ain the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 ‘aThe Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’?

45 “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

46 aNo one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him 1another question.

Chapter 23

Pharisaism Exposed

1 aThen Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

2 saying: “aThe scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;

3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

4 “aThey tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

5 “But they do all their deeds ato be noticed by men; for they bbroaden their 1phylacteries and lengthen cthe tassels of their garments.

6 “They alove the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called aRabbi by men.

8 “But ado not be called bRabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for aOne is your Father, He who is in heaven.

10 “Do not be called 1leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.

11 “aBut the greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 “aWhoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Eight Woes

13 “aBut woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, bbecause you shut off the kingdom of heaven 1from 2people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

14 [“1Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ayou devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one 1aproselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of 2bhell as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, ablind guides, who say, ‘bWhoever swears by the 1temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the 1temple is obligated.’

17 “You fools and blind men! aWhich is 1more important, the gold or the 2temple that sanctified the gold?

18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the 1offering on it, he is obligated.’

19 “You blind men, awhich is 1more important, the 2offering, or the altar that sanctifies the 2offering?

20 “Therefore, 1whoever swears by the altar, swears both by 2the altar and by everything on it.

21 “And 1whoever swears by the 2temple, swears both by 3the temple and by Him who adwells within it.

22 “And 1whoever swears by heaven, aswears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23 “aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

24 “You ablind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ayou clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full 1of robbery and self-indulgence.

26 “You blind Pharisee, first aclean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

27 “aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you aare 1sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

33 “You serpents, ayou brood of vipers, how 1will you escape the 2sentence of 3bhell?

34 “aTherefore, behold, bI am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will cscourge in your synagogues, and dpersecute from city to city,

35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous aAbel to the blood of Zechariah, the bson of Berechiah, whom cyou murdered between the 1temple and the altar.

36 “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon athis generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 “aJerusalem, Jerusalem, who bkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, cthe way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

38 “Behold, ayour house is being left to you desolate!

39 “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘aBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Chapter 24

Signs of Christ’s Return

1 aJesus bcame out from the temple and was going away 1when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, anot one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

3 As He was sitting on athe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of bYour coming, and of the 1end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aSee to it that no one misleads you.

5 “For amany will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the 1Christ,’ and will mislead many.

6 “You will be hearing of awars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

7 “For anation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be bfamines and earthquakes.

8 “aBut all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

9 “aThen they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and byou will be hated by all nations because of My name.

10 “At that time many will 1afall away and will 2betray one another and hate one another.

11 “Many afalse prophets will arise and will mislead many.

12 “Because lawlessness is increased, 1most people’s love will grow cold.

13 “aBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

14 “This agospel of the kingdom bshall be preached in the whole 1cworld as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

15 “Therefore when you see the aabomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in bthe holy place (clet the reader understand),

16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

17 “1Whoever is on athe housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.

18 “1Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

19 “But awoe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

21 “For then there will be a agreat tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no 1life would have been saved; but for athe sake of the 2elect those days will be cut short.

23 “aThen if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the 1Christ,’ or ‘2There He is,’ do not believe him.

24 “For false Christs and afalse prophets will arise and will 1show great 2bsigns and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even cthe 3elect.

25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.

26 “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.

27 “aFor just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the bcoming of the cSon of Man be.

28 “aWherever the corpse is, there the 1vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

29 “But immediately after the atribulation of those days bthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and cthe stars will fall from 1the sky, and the powers of 1the heavens will be shaken.

30 “And then athe sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see bthe Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

31 “And aHe will send forth His angels with ba great trumpet and they will gather together His 1celect from dthe four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;

33 so, you too, when you see all these things, 1recognize that 2He is near, right aat the 3door.

34 “Truly I say to you, athis 1generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

35 “aHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

36 “But aof that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

37 “For 1the acoming of the Son of Man will be bjust like the days of Noah.

38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, amarrying and giving in marriage, until the day that bNoah entered the ark,

39 and they did not 1understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the acoming of the Son of Man be.

40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one 1will be taken and one 1will be left.

41 “aTwo women will be grinding at the 1bmill; one 2will be taken and one 2will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

42 “Therefore abe on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

43 “But 1be sure of this, that aif the head of the house had known bat what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be 2broken into.

44 “For this reason ayou also must be ready; for bthe Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

45 “aWho then is the bfaithful and csensible slave whom his 1master dput in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?

46 “Blessed is that slave whom his 1master finds so doing when he comes.

47 “Truly I say to you that ahe will put him in charge of all his possessions.

48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My 1master 2is not coming for a long time,’

49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;

50 the 1master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

51 and will 1cut him in pieces and 2assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be aweeping and gnashing of teeth.