Making Money

The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say concerning the LORD, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust:

He himself will rescue you from the bird trap, from the destructive plague.

He will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield.

You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day,

the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, the pestilence will not reach you.

You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD  — my refuge, the Most High — your dwelling place,

no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent.

For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.

They will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the young lion and the serpent.

Because he has his heart set on me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name.

When he calls out to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor.

I will satisfy him with a long life and show him my salvation.

Give beer to one who is dying and wine to one whose life is bitter.

Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables:

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

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

Again, 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.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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.’

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

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

So 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.

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

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

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

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

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

Last of all, the woman died.

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

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

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

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

I 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

This is the greatest and most important command.

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

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

While the Pharisees were together, Jesus questioned them,

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

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

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

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

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

“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.

If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

You know the way to where I am going.”

“Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

“If you love me, you will keep my commands.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.

He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too.

On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.

The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

“I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you.

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe.

I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.

On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave this place.

Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”