Chapter 22

¹And Jesus spoke to them again in figures, and said,

²“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a king, who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, and they would not come. ⁴He sent other slaves a second time, and said to them, ‘Tell those who have been asked, “Here I have my banquet all ready, my bullocks and fat cattle are killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!” ’ ⁵But they took no notice of it, and went off, one to his estate, and another to his business, ⁶and the rest seized his slaves, and ill treated them and killed them. ⁷This made the king angry, and he sent his troops and put those murderers to death and burned their city. ⁸Then he said to his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited have proved unworthy of it. ⁹So go out where the roads leave the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ ¹⁰So his slaves went out on the roads, and got together all the people they could find, good or bad, and the hall was filled with guests. ¹¹But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw among them a man who did not have on wedding clothes. ¹²And he said to him, ‘My friend, how did you happen to come here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ¹³Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the darkness, there to weep and grind his teeth.’ ¹⁴For many are invited but few chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and made a plot to entrap him in argument. ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him with the Herodians, to say to him,

“Master, we know that you tell the truth, and teach the way of God with sincerity, regardless of the consequences, for you are impartial. ¹⁷So give us your opinion: Is it right to pay the poll-tax to the emperor, or not?”

¹⁸But he saw their malice, and said,

¹⁹“Why do you put me to such a test, you hypocrites? Show me the poll-tax coin!”

And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰And he said to them,

“Whose head and title is this?”

²¹They answered,

“The emperor’s.”

Then he said to them,

“Then pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and pay God what belongs to God!”

²²And when they heard it they were amazed, and they went away and left him.

²³On the same day some Sadducees came up to him, claiming that there is no resurrection, and they asked him this question:

²⁴“Master, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children his brother shall marry his widow, and raise up a family for him.’ ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first of them married and died, and as he had no children, he left his wife to his brother; ²⁶so did the second, and the third, and the rest of the seven. ²⁷After them all the woman died. ²⁸At the resurrection which one’s wife will she be? For they all married her.”

²⁹Jesus answered them,

“You are wrong, because you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰For after the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. ³¹But as to the resurrection of the dead, did you never read what was said to you by God, ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of dead men but of living!”

³³When the crowd heard this, they were astounded at his teaching.

³⁴And when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵and one of them, an expert in the Law, to test him, asked,

³⁶“Master, what command is greatest in the Law?”

³⁷And he said to him,

“ ‘You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind.’ ³⁸That is the great, first command. ³⁹There is a second like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.’ ⁴⁰These two commands sum up the whole of the Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹While the Pharisees were still gathered there, Jesus asked them,

⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They said to him,

“David’s.”

⁴³He said to them,

“How is it then that David under the Spirit’s influence calls him lord, and says,

⁴⁴“ ‘The Lord has said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand,

Until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

⁴⁵So if David calls him lord, how can he be his son?”

⁴⁶And no one could make him any answer, and from that day no one ventured to ask him any more questions.