New Testament Plan

¹Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables:

²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

³He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come.

⁴Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business,

⁶while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

⁸“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

⁹Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’

¹⁰So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.

¹¹When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.

¹²So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

¹³“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said.

¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality.

¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites?

¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought him a denarius.

²⁰“Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them.

²¹“Caesar’s,” they said to him. Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

²³That same day some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up to him and questioned him:

²⁴“Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶The same thing happened to the second also, and the third, and so on to all seven.

²⁷Last of all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had married her.”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven.

³¹Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God:

³²I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together.

³⁵And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him:

³⁶“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

³⁷He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

³⁸This is the greatest and most important command.

³⁹The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

⁴¹While the Pharisees were together, Jesus questioned them,

⁴²“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “David’s.”

⁴³He asked them, “How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’

⁴⁴ The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet’?

⁴⁵“If David calls him ‘Lord,’ how then can he be his son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to answer him at all, and from that day no one dared to question him anymore.

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

²“The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.

³Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.

⁴They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

⁶They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,

⁷greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

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

⁹Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.

¹⁰You are not to be called instructors either, because you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant.

¹²Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.

¹⁴

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’

¹⁷Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?

¹⁸Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’

¹⁹Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

²⁰Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.

²¹The one who takes an oath by the temple takes an oath by it and by him who dwells in it.

²²And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

²⁴Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 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, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.

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

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,

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

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

³²Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!

³³“Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?

³⁴This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

³⁵So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

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

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

³⁸See, 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’!”

¹As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings.

²He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”

³While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.

⁶You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

⁷For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

⁹“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.

¹⁰Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another.

¹¹Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

¹²Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),

¹⁶“then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁷A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house,

¹⁸and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.

¹⁹Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!

²⁰Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

²¹For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again.

²²Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.

²³“If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵Take note: I have told you in advance.

²⁶So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness! ’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms! ’ do not believe it.

²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹“Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³²“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near — at the door.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels of heaven nor the Son — except the Father alone.

³⁷As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

³⁸For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.

³⁹They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.

⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left.

⁴²Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

⁴³But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.

⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’

⁴⁹and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards,

⁵⁰that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.

⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.