The Authority of Jesus Challenged
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1One day, 2as Jesusa was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, 3the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up
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and said to him, "Tell us 4by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."
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He answered them, "I also will ask you a question. Now tell me,
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was the baptism of John 5from heaven or from man?"
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And they discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 6'Why did you not believe him?'
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But if we say, 'From man,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was 7a prophet."
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So they answered that they did not know where it came from.
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And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
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8And he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted 9a vineyard and 10let it out to tenants and 11went into another country for a long while.
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When the time came, he sent a servantb to the tenants, so that 12they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. 13But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
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14And 15he sent another servant. But they also beat and 16treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
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17And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
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Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my 18beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'
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But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 19'This is the heir. 20Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.'
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And they 21threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
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22He will 23come and destroy those tenants and 24give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "Surely not!"
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But he 25looked directly at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 26"'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?c
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27Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls 28on anyone, it will crush him."
Paying Taxes to Caesar
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29The 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.
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30So they 31watched him and sent spies, who 32pretended to be sincere, that they might 33catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of 34the governor.
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So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and 35show no partiality,d but truly teach 36the way of God.
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But he perceived their 39craftiness, and said to them,
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He said to them, "Then 41render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
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And they were not able in the presence of the people 42to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
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and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us 45that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the manf must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.
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Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.
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And the second
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and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.
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Afterward the woman also died.
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In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."
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but those who are 49considered worthy to attain to 50that age and to the resurrection from the dead 51neither marry 52nor are given in marriage,
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for 53they cannot die anymore, because they are 54equal to angels and 55are 56sons of God, being 57sonsg of the resurrection.
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But that the dead are raised, 58even Moses showed, in 59the passage about the bush, where he calls 60the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
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Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all 61live to him."
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Then some of the scribes 62answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."
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For 63they no longer dared to ask him any question.
Whose Son Is the Christ?
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For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, 67"'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,
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until I make your enemies 68your footstool.'
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David thus calls him Lord, so 69how is he his son?"
Beware of the Scribes
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70And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,
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"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and 71the places of honor at feasts,
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)