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Matthew 22:15-22
New King James Version
Matthew 22:15-22
New King James Version
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(A)
15 (B)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the (C)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not [a]regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus [b]perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”
So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And He said to them, (D)“Render[c] therefore to Caesar the things that are (E)Caesar’s, and to God the things that are (F)God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 22:16 Lit. look at the face of
- Matthew 22:18 knew
- Matthew 22:21 Pay
Matthew 22:15-22
New International Version
Matthew 22:15-22
New International Version
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar(A)
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.(B) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a](C) to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,(D) and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.(E)
Footnotes
- Matthew 22:17 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens
Mark 12:13-17
New King James Version
Mark 12:13-17
New King James Version
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(A)
13 (B)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. 14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and [a]care about no one; for You do not [b]regard the person of men, but teach the (C)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”
But He, knowing their (D)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” 16 So they brought it.
And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, [c]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to (E)God the things that are God’s.”
And they marveled at Him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 12:14 Court no man’s favor
- Mark 12:14 Lit. look at the face of men
- Mark 12:17 Pay
Mark 12:13-17
New International Version
Mark 12:13-17
New International Version
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar(A)
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians(B) to Jesus to catch him(C) in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”(D)
And they were amazed at him.
Footnotes
- Mark 12:14 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.