Matthew 22

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

⁴³When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.

¹⁰He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

³And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

⁴And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

¹⁶But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests.

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

⁸She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

²⁴Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her

¹⁰Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,

¹¹and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.

²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

³He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

¹⁵When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests.

⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.

¹⁰I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.

¹¹But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.

⁷My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.

²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

³⁶Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

⁵For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.

¹⁷They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

⁴⁶And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

⁴⁷and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

¹⁸But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

³⁹And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁶Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

²⁷People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²²The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

¹⁹If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

²⁰Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

²²You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

²They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

³They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.

³⁵But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁶Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

²⁷And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁸And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

²⁴They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.

²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.

²⁶Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.

⁵All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

⁴But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

³⁵But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.

³⁶So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

²¹The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

¹⁵And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

²¹in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:

⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.

⁵“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.

¹“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!

²Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

⁴⁷and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

⁹Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

²¹I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

⁴⁷Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.

⁴⁸When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.

⁹After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

⁶And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

⁴But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.

⁵Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

⁸She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

³Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.

⁴So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹⁵“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

¹⁶So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹³But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius?

⁹He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

²With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds for himself, but brought a portion and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?

²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,

⁵⁰“Friend,” Jesus replied, “do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested Him.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

³⁰And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁴For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

¹⁷These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

²³“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,

²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

¹⁴They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”

¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

²²If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

²⁰So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.

²¹“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

¹³Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.

¹⁴“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”

²The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the Lord and against His Anointed One:

⁵All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.

⁶They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.

³See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O Lord.

⁶My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁶At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

²¹“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

¹⁵“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

¹⁴“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”

¹⁸He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.

³⁷“Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

¹Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

⁶This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.

⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

²⁵“Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

²²But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

³⁷After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

¹²From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.

⁶They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.

²²Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

²⁵He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

⁹“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

²³Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

²⁵One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

²⁸But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

⁶And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.”

²⁴“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.

⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

⁶“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

⁷By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the Lord is contemptible.

³⁷Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

¹³Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,

¹⁴or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.

¹²At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.

⁴⁶No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

¹⁰but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

⁶Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”

⁷As soon as he had said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁷But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

²⁷Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him.

²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

¹⁸Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:

¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

¹⁷Then the high priest and all his associates, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They went out

⁵When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.

⁶The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

²¹Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

¹⁶They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.

¹¹But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?

²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

²⁰Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a wife but died childless.

³⁰Then the second

⁹For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

⁴For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

³⁷For no word from God will ever fail.”

¹⁷“Oh, Lord God! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!

²And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

³⁴Jesus answered, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.

³⁵But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

²⁴Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

²⁵When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.

²⁸Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice

²⁹and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

²⁹What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;

³⁰those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

¹⁶“Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”

³Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁶Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

²⁶But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

³²‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

³⁷Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”

¹⁵God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

¹⁶Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

³⁹Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well!”

⁴⁰And they did not dare to question Him any further.

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,

²⁹because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

⁴⁶“Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered.

²²And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles?

⁴⁷And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

²⁸Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

³The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil.

⁴But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

³⁰But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

²⁵One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

⁵²Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

⁴⁵One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”

⁴⁶“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “For you weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.

³So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?

²⁸Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

¹⁹So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴²Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

¹²Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.

²⁹Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

²⁷He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

⁵And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

¹²And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

³³and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

³¹The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

²⁷He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

¹⁸Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁰Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁹honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹²In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

¹⁹We love because He first loved us.

²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

³⁵While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, He asked, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?

³⁶Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

⁴¹Then Jesus declared, “How can it be said that the Christ is the Son of David?

⁴²For David himself says in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand

³⁴And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.

⁵Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

⁶⁸Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.

⁶⁹We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

¹¹“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

²³I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.

²⁴I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

²The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.

²At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.

³⁶Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

²¹For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁰On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

¹A Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

¹³Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?

³⁴For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand

³⁵until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

¹²But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.

¹³Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet,

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”

³regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

⁴and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁵⁸“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

¹⁶By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

⁶Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

¹⁴Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

³⁴When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question Him any further.

⁴⁰And they did not dare to question Him any further.

⁶And they were unable to answer these questions.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response.

²⁷So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

³I clothe the heavens in black and make sackcloth their covering.”