Parable of the Vine-growers

12 ^(A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “^(B)A man ^(C)planted a vineyard and put a ^[a]wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to ^[b]vine-growers and went on a journey. ² At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the ^[c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^[d]people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so ^(G)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes

^13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and ^(I)Herodians to Him in order to ^(J)trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^[e]defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^[f]lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^[g]denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ They brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “^(K)Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they ^[h]were amazed at Him.

^18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should ^[i]marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. ²¹ The second one ^[j]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; ²² and so ^[k]all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ In the resurrection, ^[l]when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For ^[m]all seven had married her.” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[n]understand the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But ^[o]regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘^(O)I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^27 (P)He is not the God ^[p]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

^28 (Q)One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and ^(R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[q]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘^(S)Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; ^30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘^(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(V)He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; ^33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, ^(X)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(Y)After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

^35 (Z)And Jesus began to say, as He ^(AA)taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that ^[r]the Christ is the ^(AB)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[s]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(AD)the large crowd ^[t]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (AE)In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(AF)respectful greetings in the market places, ³⁹ and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

^41 (AH)And He sat down opposite ^(AI)the treasury, and began observing how the people were ^(AJ)putting ^[u]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two ^[v]small copper coins, which amount to a ^[w]cent. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[x]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[y]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[z]all she had ^(AK)to live on.”

Things to Come

13 ^(A)As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, behold ^[a]what wonderful stones and ^[b]what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^(B)Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on ^(C)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(D)Peter and ^[c]James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the ^[d]sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(E)I am He!’ and will mislead many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “But ^[e]be on your guard; for they will ^(F)deliver you to the ^[f]courts, and you will be flogged ^(G)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ^10 (H)The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ^11 (I)When they ^[g]arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^[h]have them put to death. ^13 (J)You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

¹⁴ “But ^(K)when you see the ^(L)abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^15 (M)The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. ¹⁷ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ But pray that it may not happen in the winter. ¹⁹ For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred ^(N)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. ²⁰ Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no ^[i]life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^[j]elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is ^[k]the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; ²² for false Christs and ^(O)false prophets will arise, and will show ^[l](P)signs and ^(Q)wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.

The Return of Christ

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(R)the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, ^25 (S)and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in ^[m]the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ Then they will see ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(V)will gather together His ^[n]elect from the four winds, ^(W)from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

²⁸ “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, ^[o]recognize that ^[p]He is near, right at the ^[q]door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this ^[r]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ^32 (X)But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ “Take heed, ^(Y)keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ^[s]will come. ^34 (Z)It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and ^[t]putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. ³⁵ Therefore, ^(AA)be on the alert—for you do not know when the ^[u]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(AB)when the rooster crows, or ^(AC)in the morning— ³⁶ in case he should come suddenly and find you ^(AD)asleep. ³⁷ What I say to you I say to all, ‘^(AE)Be on the alert!’”

Death Plot and Anointing

14 ^(A)Now ^(B)the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”

^3 (D)While He was in ^(E)Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very ^(F)costly perfume of pure ^[a]nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. ⁴ But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred ^[b]denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. ⁷ For you always have ^(G)the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; ^(H)she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ Truly I say to you, ^(I)wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

^10 (J)Then Judas Iscariot, ^(K)who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to ^[c]betray Him to them. ¹¹ They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Last Passover

^12 (L)On the first day of ^(M)Unleavened Bread, when ^[d]the Passover lamb was being ^(N)sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My ^(O)guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” ¹⁶ The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

^17 (P)When it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸ As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ^[e]betray Me—^[f]one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹ They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” ²⁰ And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, ^[g]one who dips with Me in the bowl. ²¹ For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man ^[h]by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ^[i]for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

^22 (Q)While they were eating, He took some bread, and ^[j]after a ^(R)blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My ^(S)blood of the ^(T)covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

^26 (U)After singing a hymn, they went out to ^(V)the Mount of Olives.

^27 (W)And Jesus *said to them, “You will all ^[k]fall away, because it is written, ‘^(X)I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I have been raised, ^(Y)I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ²⁹ But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may ^[l]fall away, yet I will not.” ³⁰ And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, that ^[m](Z)this very night, before ^(AA)a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” ³¹ But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.

Jesus in Gethsemane

^32 (AB)They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” ³³ And He *took with Him Peter and ^[n]James and John, and began to be very ^(AC)distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And He *said to them, “^(AD)My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” ³⁵ And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, ^(AE)the hour might ^[o]pass Him by. ³⁶ And He was saying, “^(AF)Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; ^(AG)yet not what I will, but what You will.” ³⁷ And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ^38 (AH)Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ Again He went away and prayed, saying the same ^[p]words. ⁴⁰ And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. ⁴¹ And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “^[q]Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; ^(AI)the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being ^[r]betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Betrayal and Arrest

^43 (AJ)Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up ^[s]accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away ^[t]under guard.” ⁴⁵ After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, “^(AK)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁴⁶ They laid hands on Him and seized Him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and ^[u]cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you ^(AL)in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.” ⁵⁰ And they all left Him and fled.

⁵¹ A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. ⁵² But he ^[v]pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Jesus before His Accusers

^53 (AM)They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴ Peter had followed Him at a distance, ^(AN)right into ^(AO)the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[w]officers and ^(AP)warming himself at the ^[x]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole ^[y](AQ)Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘^(AR)I will destroy this ^[z]temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? ^[aa]What is it that these men are testifying against You?” ^61 (AS)But He kept silent and did not answer. ^(AT)Again the high priest was questioning Him, and ^[ab]saying to Him, “Are You ^[ac]the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^(AU)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and ^(AV)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ^63 (AW)Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the ^(AX)blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ Some began to ^(AY)spit at Him, and ^[ad](AZ)to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “^(BA)Prophesy!” And the officers ^[ae]received Him with ^[af]slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

^66 (BB)As Peter was below in ^(BC)the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(BD)warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the ^(BE)Nazarene.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he ^(BF)went out onto the ^[ag]porch.^{[ah] 69} The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again ^(BG)he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, ^(BH)for you are a Galilean too.” ⁷¹ But he began to ^[ai]curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before ^(BI)a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” ^[aj]And he began to weep.