Matthew 23; Luke 20;
Luke 21
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The
teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So
you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do,
for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy
loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to
lift a finger to move them. 5 "Everything they do is done
for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their
garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and
the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be
greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 8 "But
you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all
brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you
have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be
called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.11 The
greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 "Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom
of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those
enter who are trying to. 15 "Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single
convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as
you are. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If
anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold
of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools!
Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You
also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone
swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind
men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore,
he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And
he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And
he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on
it. 23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you
have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and
faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the
former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow
a camel. 25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind
Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean. 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful
on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything
unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to
people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and
wickedness. 29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the
graves of the righteous.30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the
days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the
blood of the prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves
that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill
up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! 33 "You
snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore
I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill
and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to
town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood
that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the
altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this
generation. 37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the
prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you
desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until
you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
1 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts
and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,
together with the elders, came up to him. 2 "Tell us by
what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you
this authority?" 3 He replied, "I will also ask you
a question. Tell me, 4 John's baptism--was it from heaven, or
from men?" 5 They discussed it among themselves and said,
"If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe
him?' 6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone
us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet."7 So
they answered, "We don't know where it was from." 8 Jesus
said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these
things." 9 He went on to tell the people this parable:
"A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a
long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants
so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat
him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another
servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away
empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him
and threw him out. 13 "Then the owner of the vineyard
said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will
respect him.' 14 "But when the tenants saw him, they
talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the
inheritance will be ours.' 15 So they threw him out of the
vineyard and killed him. "What then will the owner of the vineyard do to
them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the
vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this
never be!" 17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked,
"Then what is the meaning of that which is written: " 'The stone the
builders rejected has become the capstone ' ? 18 Everyone who
falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be
crushed." 19 The teachers of the law and the chief
priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had
spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. 20 Keeping
a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped
to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the
power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies
questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right,
and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with
the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or
not?" 23 He saw through their duplicity and said to
them, 24 "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and
inscription are on it?" 25 "Caesar's," they
replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to
God what is God's." 26 They were unable to trap him in
what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became
silent. 27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no
resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 "Teacher,"
they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a
wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his
brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a
woman and died childless. 30 The second 31and then
the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no
children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now
then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married
to her?" 34 Jesus replied, "The people of this age
marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are
considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the
dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they
can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since
they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account
of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' 38 He
is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are
alive." 39 Some of the teachers of the law responded,
"Well said, teacher!" 40 And no one dared to ask him
any more questions. 41 Then Jesus said to them, "How is
it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? 42David himself
declares in the Book of Psalms: " 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at
my right hand 43 until I make your enemies a footstool for
your feet." ' 44 David calls him 'Lord.' How then can he
be his son?" 45 While all the people were listening,
Jesus said to his disciples, 46 "Beware of the teachers
of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in
the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the
places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows' houses and
for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts
into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in
two very small copper coins. 3 "I tell you the
truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the
others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their
wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." 5 Some
of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful
stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 "As
for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on
another; every one of them will be thrown down." 7 "Teacher,"
they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that
they are about to take place?" 8 He replied: "Watch
out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am
he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. 9 When you
hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen
first, but the end will not come right away." 10 Then he
said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences
in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. 12 "But
before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will
deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and
governors, and all on account of my name. 13 This will result
in your being witnesses to them. 14 But make up your mind not
to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I
will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to
resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 All
men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your
head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain
life. 20"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies,
you will know that its desolation is near. 21Then let those who are
in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in
the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of
punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How
dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There
will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They
will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.
Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled. 25 "There will be signs in the sun, moon
and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the
roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror,
apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be
shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in
a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin
to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near." 29 He told them this parable: "Look
at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves,
you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even
so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is
near. 32 "I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34 "Be
careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and
the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a
trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face
of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that
you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able
to stand before the Son of Man." 37 Each day Jesus was
teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the
hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came
early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
