Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(A)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.^(B) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a](C) to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^(D) and to God what is God’s.”

²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.^(E)

Marriage at the Resurrection^(F)

²³ That same day the Sadducees,^(G) who say there is no resurrection,^(H) came to him with a question. ²⁴ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.^{(I) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ²⁷ Finally, the woman died. ²⁸ Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(J) or the power of God. ³⁰ At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;^(K) they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[b]?^(L) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

³³ When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.^(M)

The Greatest Commandment^(N)

³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,^(O) the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law,^(P) tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[c](Q) 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[d](R) 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”^(S)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?^(T)

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,”^(U) they replied.

⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

⁴⁵ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ⁴⁶ No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.^(W)

A Warning Against Hypocrisy^(X)(Y)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law^(Z) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to 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, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.^(AA)

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see:^(AB) They make their phylacteries^[f](AC) wide and the tassels on their garments^(AD) long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;^{(AE) 7} they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.^(AF)

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(AG) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(AH) 12} For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.^(AI)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!^(AJ) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.^{(AK) [14] [g]}

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^(AL) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^(AM) as you are.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides!^(AN) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’^{(AO) 17} You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?^{(AP) 18} You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(AQ) 20} Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells^(AR) in it. ²² And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.^(AS)

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth^(AT) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^(AU) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides!^(AV) 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,^(AW) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{(AX) 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,^(AY) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead 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^(AZ) and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, 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.^{(BA) 32} Go ahead, then, and complete^(BB) what your ancestors started!^(BC)

³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers!^(BD) How will you escape being condemned to hell?^{(BE) 34} Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(BF) others you will flog in your synagogues^(BG) and pursue from town to town.^{(BH) 35} And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(BI) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(BJ) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^{(BK) 36} Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(BL)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(BM) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(BN) and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.^{(BO) 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.’^[h]”^(BP)