Luke 20:1-47 (New American Standard)

Jesus' Authority Questioned

1 ¹On one of the days while ²He was teaching the people in the temple and ³preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ⁴confronted Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority ?" 3 Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a ^aquestion, and you tell Me: 4 "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men ?" 5 They reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' 6 "But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ⁵prophet." 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, "Nor ^bwill I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Parable of the Vine-growers

9 ⁶And He began to tell the people this parable : "A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ^cvine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 "At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard ; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 "And he proceeded to send another slave ; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. 12 "And he proceeded to send a third ; and this one also they wounded and cast out. 13 "The ^downer of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son ; perhaps they will ⁷respect him.' 14 "But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, 'This is the heir ; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.' 15 "So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^eowner of the vineyard do to them? 16 "He will come and ⁸destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard it, they said, "⁹May it never be!" 17 But ^fJesus looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written : '¹⁰THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME ¹¹THE CHIEF CORNER stone'? 18 "¹²Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces ; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."

Tribute to Caesar

19 The scribes and the chief priests ¹³tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people ; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. 20 ¹⁴So they watched Him, and sent spies who ^gpretended to be righteous, in order ¹⁵that they might ^hcatch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ¹⁶the governor. 21 They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ⁱare not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. 22 "Is it ^jlawful for us ¹⁷to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" 23 But He detected their trickery and said to them, 24 "Show Me a ^kdenarius. Whose ^llikeness and inscription does it have ?" They said, "Caesar's." 25 And He said to them, "Then ¹⁸render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 26 And they were unable to ^m19catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people ; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

Is There a Resurrection?

27 ²⁰Now there came to Him some of the ²¹Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection ), 28 and they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ²²IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES, having a wife, AND HE IS CHILDLESS, HIS BROTHER SHOULD ⁿMARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER. 29 "Now there were seven brothers ; and the first took a wife and died childless ; 30 and the second 31 and the third ^omarried her; and in the same way ^pall seven ^qdied, leaving no children. 32 "Finally the woman died also. 33 "In the resurrection therefore, which one's wife will she be? For ^rall seven ^shad married her." 34 Jesus said to them, "The sons of ²³this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to ²⁴that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage ; 36 for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are ²⁵sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 "But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in ²⁶the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord ²⁷THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. 38 "²⁸Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living ; for ²⁹all live to Him." 39 Some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well." 40 For ³⁰they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything. 41 ³¹Then He said to them, "How is it that they say ^tthe Christ is ³²David's son ? 42 "For David himself says in the book of Psalms, '³³THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 43 ³⁴UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."' 44 "Therefore David calls Him 'Lord,' and how is He his son ?" 45 ³⁵And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, 46 "Beware of the scribes, ³⁶who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."