1Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to farmers, and went away to a far country."
2"When the time came, he sent a servant to the farmers, to receive from them some of the fruit of the vineyard."
3"But they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away with nothing."
4"Again he sent another servant to them. They threw stones at him, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated."
5"Again he sent another, and they killed him. He sent many others too. Some they beat, and some they killed."
6"He still had one left to send, his dear son. Last of all he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'"
7"But those farmers said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the land will be ours.'"
8"So they took him, and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard."
9"What then will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those farmers, and give the vineyard to others."
10"Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.'"
11"'This was the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?"
12They tried to arrest him, but they were afraid of the people. They knew he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
13They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, to catch him in his words.
14When they came, they said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and that you are not swayed by anyone. You do not favour people because of who they are, but teach the way of God truly. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"
15"Should we pay, or should we not pay?" But he knew they were pretending, and said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring me a penny, so that I may look at it."
16They brought it. And he said to them, "Whose image and writing is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."
17Jesus answered them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him.
18Then the Sadducees came to him. They say there is no resurrection. They asked him,
19"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother."
20"Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died leaving no children."
21"The second took her, and died, and he left no children either. And so did the third."
22"All seven had her, and left no children. Last of all the woman died too."
23"In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."
24Jesus answered them, "Is this not why you are wrong: you do not know the scriptures, nor the power of God?"
25"When they rise from the dead, they do not marry, and are not given in marriage. They are like the angels in heaven."
26"And about the dead rising: have you not read in the book of Moses, how God spoke to him at the bush, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?"
27"He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are very wrong."
28One of the scribes came and heard them arguing together. He saw that Jesus had answered them well, so he asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
29Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."
30"'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment."
31"And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
32The scribe said to him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth. There is one God, and there is no other but he."
33"And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question.
35While Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that Christ is the Son of David?"
36"For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.'"
37"David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?" And the common people listened to him gladly.
38In his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes. They love to walk about in long robes, and love to be greeted in the marketplaces,"
39"and to have the chief seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts."
40"They eat up widows' houses, and to cover it up they make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."
41Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched how the people put money into the treasury. Many who were rich put in a lot.
42Then a poor widow came, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43He called his disciples to him and said to them, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all those who have put money into the treasury."
44"For they all put in out of what they had to spare. But she, out of her need, put in everything she had, all she had to live on."