³ And he ^(A)sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he ^(B)sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own ^[a]farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. ⁷ Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go to ^(C)the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[b]dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the ^[c]dinner guests, he saw ^(D)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘^(E)Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into ^(F)the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^[d](G)called, but few are ^(H)chosen.”

Poll-tax to Caesar

^15 (I)Then the Pharisees went and ^[e]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[f]in what He said. ¹⁶ And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(J)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ^[g]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[h]are not partial to anyone. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[i]permissible to pay a ^[j](K)poll-tax to ^(L)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[k]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the ^(M)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a ^[l]denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(N)Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² And hearing this, they were amazed; and ^(O)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (P)On that day some ^(Q)Sadducees (who say ^(R)there is no resurrection) came to ^[m]Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(S)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up ^[n]children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no ^[o]children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(T)since you do not ^[p]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither ^(U)marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ³² ‘^(V)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ When the crowds heard this, ^(W)they were astonished at His teaching.

^34 (X)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(Y)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, ^[q](Z)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(AA)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[r]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(AB)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (AC)Upon these two commandments ^[s]hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

^41 (AD)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴² “What do you think about the ^[t]Christ? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(AE)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then ^[u]how does David ^[v](AF)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ ^[w]how is He his son?” ^46 (AH)No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.

²⁸ And we know that ^[a]God ^[b]causes ^(A)all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are ^(B)called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He ^(C)foreknew, He also ^(D)predestined to become ^(E)conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the ^(F)firstborn among many brothers and sisters; ³⁰ and these whom He ^(G)predestined, He also ^(H)called; and these whom He called, He also ^(I)justified; and these whom He justified, He also ^(J)glorified.

^31 (K)What then shall we say to these things? ^(L)If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who ^(M)did not spare His own Son, but ^(N)delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? ³³ Who will bring charges against ^(O)God’s elect? ^(P)God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who ^(Q)condemns? Christ Jesus is He who ^(R)died, but rather, was ^[c](S)raised, who is ^(T)at the right hand of God, who also ^(U)intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from ^(V)the love of ^[d]Christ? Will ^(W)tribulation, or trouble, or ^(X)persecution, or ^(Y)famine, or ^(Z)nakedness, or ^(AA)danger, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written:

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly ^(AC)conquer through ^(AD)Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither ^(AE)death, nor life, nor ^(AF)angels, nor principalities, nor ^(AG)things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from ^(AH)the love of God that is ^(AI)in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus Our High Priest

3 Therefore, ^(A)holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a ^(B)heavenly calling, consider ^(C)the Apostle and ^(D)High Priest of our ^(E)confession: Jesus;