The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^sAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what ^tauthority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you ^unot believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a ^vprophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the ^wtax collectors and the prostitutes ^xgo into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For ^yJohn came to you in the ^zway of ^arighteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^b“Hear another parable. ^cThere was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and ^dwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants¹ to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, ^ekilled another, and stoned another. 36 ^fAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 ^gFinally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the ^hheir. Come, let us ⁱkill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^jlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be ^mtaken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who ⁿfalls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”³

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a ^oprophet.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 ^pAnd again Jesus spoke to them in ^qparables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a ^rwedding ^sfeast for his son, 3 and sent his servants⁴ to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 ^tAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and ^ukilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, ^vbut those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no ^wwedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^xcast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but ^yfew are chosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 ^zThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ^ato entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^bwe know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for ^cyou are not swayed by ^dappearances.⁵ 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ^etaxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you ^fhypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.⁶ 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore ^grender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 ^jAnd they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what ^kauthority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you ^lnot believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a ^mprophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

1 ⁿAnd he began to speak to them in parables. ^o“A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and ^pwent into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant¹ to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they ^qkilled. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a ^rbeloved son. ^sFinally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the ^their. Come, let us ^ukill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and ^vgive the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 ^yAnd they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, ^zto trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^awe know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For ^byou are not swayed by ^cappearances,³ but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^dtaxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius⁴ and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, ^e“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1 ^dOne day, as Jesus¹ was teaching the people in the temple and ^epreaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what ^fauthority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you ^gnot believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^hprophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 ⁱAnd he began to tell the people this parable: ^j“A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and ^kwent into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant² to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^lBut the tenants ^mbeat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 ⁿThen the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^obeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the ^pheir. Let us ^qkill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And 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 destroy those tenants and ^rgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

18 Everyone who ^ufalls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 ^vThe scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they ^wwatched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, ^xwe know that you speak and teach rightly, and ^yshow no partiality,⁴ but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give ^ztribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius.⁵ Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then ^arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to ^bcatch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.