Luke 20

₁One day when Jesus was in the Temple teaching the people and preaching the Good News, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, together with the elders, came ₂and said to him, “Tell us, what right have you to do these things? Who gave you this right?”

₃Jesus answered them, “Now let me ask you a question. Tell me, ₄did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?”

₅They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we say, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ ₆But if we say ‘From human beings,’ this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ₇So they answered, “We don't know where it came from.”

₈And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”

₉Then Jesus told the people this parable: “There was once a man who planted a vineyard, let it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time. ₁₀When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing. ₁₁So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing. ₁₂Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out. ₁₃Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!’ ₁₄But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ₁₅So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?” Jesus asked. ₁₆“He will come and kill those men, and hand the vineyard over to other tenants.”

When the people heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

₁₇Jesus looked at them and asked, “What, then, does this scripture mean?

₁₉The teachers of the Law and the chief priests tried to arrest Jesus on the spot, because they knew that he had told this parable against them; but they were afraid of the people. ₂₀So they looked for an opportunity. They bribed some men to pretend they were sincere, and they sent them to trap Jesus with questions, so that they could hand him over to the authority and power of the Roman Governor. ₂₁These spies said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is right. We know that you pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people. ₂₂Tell us, is it against our Law for us to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?”

₂₃But Jesus saw through their trick and said to them, ₂₄“Show me a silver coin. Whose face and name are these on it?”

“The Emperor's,” they answered.

₂₅So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.”

₂₆There before the people they could not catch him out in anything, so they kept quiet, amazed at his answer.

₂₇Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said, ₂₈“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.’ ₂₉Once there were seven brothers; the eldest got married and died without having children. ₃₀Then the second one married the woman, ₃₁and then the third. The same thing happened to all seven — they died without having children. ₃₂Last of all, the woman died. ₃₃Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”

₃₄Jesus answered them, “The men and women of this age marry, ₃₅but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry. ₃₆They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death. ₃₇And Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ₃₈He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.”

₃₉Some of the teachers of the Law spoke up, “A good answer, Teacher!” ₄₀For they did not dare ask him any more questions.

₄₁Jesus asked them, “How can it be said that the Messiah will be the descendant of David? ₄₂For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

₄₅As all the people listened to him, Jesus said to his disciples, ₄₆“Be on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who like to walk about in their long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the market place; who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts; ₄₇who take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers! Their punishment will be all the worse!”