| 1 | And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: | |
| 2 | "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, | |
| 3 | "and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. | |
| 4 | "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding."' | |
| 5 | "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. | |
| 6 | "And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. | |
| 7 | "But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. | |
| 8 | "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. | |
| 9 | 'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' | |
| 10 | "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. | |
| 11 | "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. | |
| 12 | "So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. | |
| 13 | "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' | |
| 14 | "For many are called, but few are chosen." | |
| 15 | Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. | |
| 16 | And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. | |
| 17 | "Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" | |
| 18 | But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? | |
| 19 | "Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. | |
| 20 | And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" | |
| 21 | They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." | |
| 22 | When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way. | |
| 23 | The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, | |
| 24 | saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. | |
| 25 | "Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. | |
| 26 | "Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. | |
| 27 | "Last of all the woman died also. | |
| 28 | "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." | |
| 29 | Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. | |
| 30 | "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. | |
| 31 | "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, | |
| 32 | 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." | |
| 33 | And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. | |
| 34 | But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. | |
| 35 | Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, | |
| 36 | "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" | |
| 37 | Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' | |
| 38 | "This is the first and great commandment. | |
| 39 | "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' | |
| 40 | "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." | |
| 41 | While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, | |
| 42 | saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." | |
| 43 | He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying: | |
| 44 | 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'? | |
| 45 | "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" | |
| 46 | And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore. | |