Balak Summons Balaam

1 Then ⁱthe people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And ^jBalak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And ^kMoab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to ^lthe elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 ^msent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor ⁿat Pethor, which is near the River¹ in the land of the people of Amaw,² to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6 ^oCome now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

7 So the elders of Moab and ^lthe elders of Midian departed with ^pthe fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 ^qAnd God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for ^rthey are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 ^sfor I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. ^tCome, curse this people for me.’” 18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, ^u“Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, ^vI could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. 19 So you, too, ^wplease stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” 20 ^qAnd God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; ^xbut only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel

22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, ^yand the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way ^zas his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord ^aopened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

31 Then the Lord ^bopened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out ^cto oppose you because your way is perverse³ before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ^d“I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, ^ebut speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, ^fon the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to ^ghonor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? ^hThe word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” 39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

The Parable of the Tenants

1 ^bAnd he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^ca vineyard ^dand put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^eleased it to tenants and ^fwent 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 ^gAnd they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 ^gAgain ^hhe sent to them another servant, and ⁱthey struck him on the head and ^jtreated him shamefully. 5 ^gAnd he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, ^ka beloved son. ^lFinally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ^m‘This is the heir. Come, ⁿlet us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and ^othrew him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^pHe will ^qcome and destroy the tenants and ^rgive the vineyard to others. 10 ^sHave you not read ^tthis Scripture:

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

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 ^yAnd they sent to him some of ^zthe Pharisees and some of ^zthe Herodians, to ^atrap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^bwe know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For ^cyou are not swayed by appearances,³ but truly teach ^dthe way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^etaxes to ^fCaesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing ^gtheir hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^hput me to the test? Bring me ⁱa 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, ^j“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

18 And ^kSadducees came to him, ^lwho say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^mif a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man⁵ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ⁿyou know neither the Scriptures nor ^othe power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^pmarry nor ^pare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, ^qhave you not read in ^rthe book of Moses, in ^sthe passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^t‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

28 ^uAnd one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^v‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^wthe Lord is one. 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.’ 31 ^xThe second is this: ^y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^zgreater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^whe is one, and ^athere is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all ^bthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^cis much more than all ^dwhole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^eAnd after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 ^fAnd as ^gJesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that ^hthe Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, ⁱin the Holy Spirit, declared,

37 David himself calls him Lord. So ^lhow is he his son?” And the great throng ^mheard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 ⁿAnd in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and ^othe places of honor at feasts, 40 ^pwho devour widows’ houses and ^qfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

41 ^rAnd he sat down opposite ^sthe treasury and watched the people ^tputting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two ^usmall copper coins, which make a penny.⁶ 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^vthis poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^wpoverty has put in everything she had, all ^xshe had to live on.”