Chronological Plan

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

²“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

³So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

⁴They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;

⁶they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;

⁷they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

⁸“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant.

¹²For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

¹³“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

¹⁴

¹⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’

¹⁷You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁸You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’

¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

²⁰Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²¹And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.

²²And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

³⁰And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

³³“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

³⁴Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

³⁶Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

³⁸Look, your house is left to you desolate.

³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

¹One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.

²“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

³He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me:

⁴John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

⁵They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’

⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

⁹He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.

¹⁰At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.

¹²He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

¹⁷Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ ?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

¹⁹The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

²⁰Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

²¹So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

²²Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³He saw through their duplicity and said to them,

²⁴“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied.

²⁵He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²⁶They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

²⁷Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.

²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless.

³⁰The second

³¹and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.

³²Finally, the woman died too.

³³Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.

³⁵But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage,

³⁶and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.

³⁷But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

³⁹Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!”

⁴⁰And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

⁴¹Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David?

⁴²David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

⁴³until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’

⁴⁴David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

⁴⁵While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,

⁴⁶“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

⁴⁷They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

¹As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.

²He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

³“Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

⁴All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

⁵Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said,

⁶“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

⁷“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

⁸He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.

⁹When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

¹⁰Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

¹¹There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

¹³And so you will bear testimony to me.

¹⁴But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.

¹⁵For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.

¹⁷Everyone will hate you because of me.

¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁹Stand firm, and you will win life.

²⁰“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.

²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.

²²For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.

²³How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.

²⁴They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.

²⁶People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

²⁷At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.

³⁰When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.

³¹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

³²“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁴“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.

³⁵For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth.

³⁶Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives,

³⁸and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.