¹Now it came to pass on one of those days as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, that the priests and scribes came up to him, as did the elders, ²and they spoke to him and said, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is who has given you this authority.” ³So he answered and said to them, “I will for my part ask you one question, so you tell me, ⁴John's baptism – was it from heaven or from men?” ⁵They then debated among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven’, he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘From men’, all the people will stone us, for they have been persuaded that John is a prophet.” ⁷And they answered that they did not know where it was from. ⁸So Jesus said to them, “Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” ⁹He then went on to speak this parable to the people: “A man planted a vineyard, and he put it under hired labour with farmers and went abroad for a considerable time. ¹⁰And in due course, he sent a servant to the farmers for them to give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers flogged him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹Then he sent another servant. But they also flogged that one and treated him with indignity and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²Then he sent again – a third one. But they also wounded this one and threw him out. ¹³Then the landlord of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Maybe when they see him, they will respect him.’ ¹⁴But when the farmers saw him, they talked it through among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let's kill him, so that the inheritance will become ours.’ ¹⁵So they drove him out to a place outside the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the landlord of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.” And when they had heard it, they said, “May it not take place.” ¹⁷But he looked straight at them and said, “What does this scripture mean: ¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be shattered, and on whomever it falls, it will crush to powder.” ¹⁹Then the senior priests and the scribes looked for a way to lay hands on him at that very time, but they were afraid, for they knew that he had levelled that parable against them. ²⁰And they watched him closely, and they sent infiltrators pretending to be sincere in order to seize on his remarks, with a view to informing on him to the administration and authority of the governor. ²¹And they questioned him and asked, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and do not show partiality, but teach the way of God in truth. ²²Is it permissible for us to pay tax to Caesar, or not?” ²³At this, having perceived their trickery, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? ²⁴Show me a denary. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar's.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Well then, render to Caesar the things due to Caesar, and to God the things due to God.” ²⁶So they were not able to seize on his remark in the presence of the people, and they were amazed at his answer, and they fell silent. ²⁷Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came over and questioned him, ²⁸and they said, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If someone's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, that his brother is to take the wife and raise up seed to his brother.’ ²⁹Now suppose there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and died without children. ³⁰Then the second took the wife, and this one died without children. ³¹Then the third took her likewise, and like this indeed the seven of them. They did not leave any children, and they died. ³²Then last of all the woman died as well. ³³So in the resurrection, of which of them will she be the wife? For the seven had her as a wife.” ³⁴Then Jesus replied and said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵but those who have been considered worthy of attaining to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶Nor can they die any more, for they are like angels, and they are sons of God, being members of the resurrection. ³⁷Now that the dead are raised, even Moses disclosed, at the passage about the bush, where he says, ‘The Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸So he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” ³⁹Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰And they did not dare question him on anything any more. ⁴¹Then he said to them, “How do they say that the Christ can be the son of David, ⁴²when David himself says in the book of the Psalms,

⁴³Until I make your enemies your footstool» ’?

⁴⁴So David calls him Lord. So how is it that he is his son?” ⁴⁵Then with all the people hearing, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in robes and love greetings in the market places and the privileged seats in the synagogues and the privileged couches at dinners, ⁴⁷who devour widows' houses, and for show pray at length. These will receive judgment to a greater degree.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 20: v.17 ↔ Psalm 118:22 ● v.28 ↔ Deuteronomy 25:5 ● v.37 ↔ Exodus 3:6 ● v.42 ↔ Psalm 110:1 ● v.43 ↔ Psalm 110:1.