Is It Right to Pay Taxes to Caesar?
15 The Pharisees went out. They made plans to trap Jesus with his own words.
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They sent their followers to him. They sent the Herodians with them. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of honor. You teach the way of God truthfully. You don't let others tell you what to do or say. You don't care how important they are.
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Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
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But Jesus knew their evil plans. He said, "You pretenders! Why are you trying to trap me?
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Show me the coin people use for paying the tax." They brought him a silver coin.
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He asked them, "Whose picture is this? And whose words?"
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"Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God."
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When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
23 That same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead.
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"Teacher," they said, "here is what Moses told us. If a man dies without having children, his brother must get married to the widow. He must have children to carry on his brother's name.
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There were seven brothers among us. The first one got married and died. Since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
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The same thing happened to the second and third brothers. It happened right on down to the seventh brother.
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Finally, the woman died.
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Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her."
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Jesus replied, "You are mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God.
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When the dead rise, they won't get married. And their parents won't give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.
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"What about the dead rising? Haven't you read what God said to you?
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He said, 'I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.'(Exodus 3:6) He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living."
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When the crowds heard this, they were amazed by what he taught.