The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And it came about on one of those days, when he was teaching the people in the Temple and preaching the good news,
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One 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
2 That the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people came to him and said, Make clear to us by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.
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and said to him, "Tell us, what right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?"
3 And in answer he said to them, I will put a question to you, and do you give me an answer:
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Jesus answered them, "Now let me ask you a question. Tell me,
4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?
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did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?"
5 And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?
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They started to argue among themselves, "What shall we say? If we say, "From God,' he will say, "Why, then, did you not believe John?'
6 But if we say, Of men; we will be stoned by the people, for they are certain that John was a prophet.
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But if we say, "From human beings,' this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet."
7 And they made answer that they had no idea where it came from.
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So they answered, "We don't know where it came from."
8 And Jesus said, And I will not make clear to you by what authority I do these things.
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And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
9 And he gave the people this story: A man made a vine-garden and gave the use of it to some field-workers and went into another country for a long time.
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Then Jesus told the people this parable: "There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.
10 And at the right time he sent a servant to the workers to get part of the fruit from the vines; but the workmen gave him blows and sent him away with nothing.
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When 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.
11 And he sent another servant, and they gave blows to him in the same way, and put shame on him, and sent him away with nothing.
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So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing.
12 And he sent a third, and they gave him wounds and put him out.
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Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out.
13 And the lord of the garden said, What am I to do? I will send my dearly loved son; they may give respect to him.
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Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!'
14 But when the workmen saw him, they said to one another, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property: let us put him to death and the heritage will be ours.
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But 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!'
15 And driving him out of the garden they put him to death. Now what will the lord do to these workmen?
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So 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 put them to destruction and give the garden to others. And when he said this, they said, May it not be so.
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"He will come and kill those men, and turn the vineyard over to other tenants." When the people heard this, they said, "Surely not!"
17 But he, looking on them, said, Is it not in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has become the chief stone of the building?
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Jesus looked at them and asked, "What, then, does this scripture mean? "The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.'
18 Everyone falling on that stone will be broken, but the man on whom the stone comes down will be crushed to dust.
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Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, that person will be crushed to dust."
19 And the chief priests and the scribes made attempts to get their hands on him in that very hour; and they were in fear of the people, for they saw that he had made up this story against them.
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The 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.
20 And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.
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So 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.
21 And they put a question to him, saying, Master, we are certain that your teaching and your words are right, and that you have no respect for a man's position, but you are teaching the true way of God:
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These 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.
22 Is it right for us to make payment of taxes to Caesar or not?
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Tell us, is it against our Law for us to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?"
23 But he saw through their trick and said to them,
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But Jesus saw through their trick and said to them,
24 Let me see a penny. Whose image and name are on it? And they said, Caesar's.
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"Show me a silver coin. Whose face and name are these on it?" "The Emperor's," they answered.
25 And he said, Then give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.
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So Jesus said, "Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God."
26 And they were not able to get anything from these words before the people: but they were full of wonder at his answer, and said nothing.
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There before the people they could not catch him in a thing, so they kept quiet, amazed at his answer.
27 And some of the Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no coming back from the dead; and they said to him,
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Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said,
28 Master, Moses said that if a man's brother comes to his end, having a wife, but no children, his brother is to take the wife, and get a family for his brother.
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"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.'
29 Now there were seven brothers, and the first had a wife and came to his end, having no children;
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Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children.
30 And the second;
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Then the second one married the woman,
31 And the third took her; and in the same way, all the seven, without having any children, came to their end.
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and then the third. The same thing happened to all seven - they died without having children.
32 And last of all, the woman came to her end.
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Last of all, the woman died.
33 When they come back from the dead, whose wife will she be? for all the seven had her.
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Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her."
34 And Jesus said to them, The sons of this world are married and have wives;
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Jesus answered them, "The men and women of this age marry,
35 But those to whom is given the reward of the world to come, and to come back from the dead, have no wives, and are not married;
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but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry.
36 And death has no more power over them, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being of those who will come back from the dead.
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They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death.
37 But even Moses made it clear that the dead come back to life, saying, in the story of the burning thorn-tree, The Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
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And 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.'
38 Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living: for all men are living to him.
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He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive."
39 And some of the scribes, in answer to this, said, Master, you have said well.
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Some of the teachers of the Law spoke up, "A good answer, Teacher!"
40 And they had fear of putting any more questions to him.
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For they did not dare ask him any more questions.
41 And he said to them, Why do they say that the Christ is the son of David?
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Jesus asked them, "How can it be said that the Messiah will be the descendant of David?
42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Take your seat at my right hand,
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For David himself says in the book of Psalms, "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side
43 Till I put under your feet all those who are against you.
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until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.'
44 David then gives him the name of Lord, so how is it possible for him to be his son?
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David called him "Lord'; how, then, can the Messiah be David's descendant?"
45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,
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As all the people listened to him, Jesus said to his disciples,
46 Keep away from the scribes, whose pleasure it is to go about in long robes, and to have words of respect said to them in the market-places, and to take the chief seats in the Synagogues and the first places at feasts;
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"Be on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplace; who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts;
47 Who take the property of widows and before the eyes of men make long prayers; they will get a greater punishment.
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who 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!"
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.