Read the Bible

Parable of the Marriage Feast

¹ Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,² "^(C1)The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a ^(C2)wedding feast for his son.³ "And he ^(C1)sent his servants to call those who had previously been invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come.⁴ "Then he ^(C1)sent out some other servants, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited, "Look, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened calves are butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."'⁵ "But they paid no attention they disregarded the invitation, treating it with contempt and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.⁶ "The rest of the invited guests seized his servants and mistreated them insulting and humiliating them and killed them.⁷ "The king was enraged when he heard this, and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.⁸ "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.⁹ 'So go to ^(C1)the main highways that lead out of the city, and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.'¹⁰ "Those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all the people they could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests sitting at the banquet table.

¹¹ "But when the king came in to see the dinner guests, he saw ^(C1)a man there who was not dressed appropriately in wedding clothes,¹² and he said, '^(C1)Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes that were provided for you?' And the man was speechless and without excuse.¹³ "Then the king said to the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into ^(C1)the darkness outside; in that place there will be weeping over sorrow and pain and grinding of teeth over distress and anger.'¹⁴ "For many are ^(C1)called (invited, summoned), but few are ^(C1)chosen."

Tribute to Caesar

^15 (C1)Then the Pharisees went and conspired together plotting how to trap Him by distorting what He said. ^(VR1)16 They sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(F1)(C1)Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are sincere and that You teach the way of God truthfully, without concerning Yourself about what anyone thinks or says of Your teachings; for You are impartial and do not seek anyone's favor and You treat all people alike, regardless of status.¹⁷ "Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible according to Jewish law and tradition to pay a ^(F1)(C1)poll-tax to ^(C2)Caesar, or not?"¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, asked, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?¹⁹ "Show me the ^(C1)coin used for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius a day's wage.²⁰ And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"²¹ They said, "^(F1)The Emperor Tiberius Caesar's." Then He said to them, "^(C1)Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."²² When they heard this, they were caught off guard, and ^(C1)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (C1)On that day some ^(C2)Sadducees, who say that ^(C3)there is no resurrection of the dead, came to Him and asked Him a question, ^(VR1)24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, '^(C1)IF A MAN DIES, LEAVING NO CHILDREN, HIS BROTHER AS NEXT OF KIN SHALL ^(F1)MARRY HIS WIDOW, AND RAISE CHILDREN FOR HIS BROTHER.' ^(VR1)25 "Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.²⁶ "The second also died childless, and the third, down to the seventh.²⁷ "Last of all, the woman died.²⁸ "So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her."

²⁹ But Jesus replied to them, "You are all wrong because you ^(C1)know neither the Scriptures which teach the resurrection nor the power of God for He is able to raise the dead.³⁰ "For in the resurrection neither do men ^(C1)marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven who do not marry nor produce children.³¹ "But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read in the Scripture what God said to you:³² '^(C1)I 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." ^(VR1)33 When the crowds heard this, ^(C1)they were astonished at His teaching.

^34 (C1)Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) ^(C2)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ^(VR1)35 One of them, ^(C1)a lawyer an expert in Mosaic Law, asked Jesus a question, to test Him:³⁶ "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ^(VR1)37 And Jesus replied to him, "'^(C1)YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' ^(VR1)38 "This is the first and greatest commandment.³⁹ "The second is like it, '^(C1)YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others.' ^(VR1)40 "The whole Law and the writings of the Prophets depend ^(C1)on these two commandments."

^41 (C1)Now while the Pharisees were still gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ^(VR1)42 "What do you Pharisees think of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "^(F1)(C1)The son of David."⁴³ Jesus asked them, "How is it then that David ^(C1)by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him 'Lord,' saying,

⁴⁴ '^(C1)THE LORD (the Father) SAID TO MY LORD (the Son, the Messiah),
"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET"'? ^(VR1)