Matthew 20:1-22:46

^20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ He went out about nine in the morning, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.  ⁴ To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about noon and at three in the afternoon, and did likewise. ⁶ About five that afternoon he went out, and found others standing. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

⁷ “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’

“He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ ⁸ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

⁹ “When those who were hired at about five in the afternoon came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹² saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁷ As Yeshua was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief cohanim and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹ and will hand him over to the non-Jews to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”

²⁰ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. ²¹ He said to her, “What do you want?”

She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”

²² But Yeshua answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”

They said to him, “We are able.”

²³ He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴ When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵ But Yeshua summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It will not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you must be your servant. ²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

²⁹ As they went out from Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ And look, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Yeshua was passing by, shouted, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David.” ³¹ The crowd rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they shouted even more, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David.”

³² Yeshua stood still, and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³ They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

³⁴ Yeshua, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.

^21:1 When they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Yeshua sent two talmidim, ² saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘Because the Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

⁴ This took place that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

⁵ Say to the daughter of Zion, “Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

⁶ The talmidim went, and did just as Yeshua directed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their clothes on them; and he sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

¹⁰ When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds said, “This is the prophet Yeshua, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

¹² Yeshua entered into the temple, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief cohanim and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David.” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”

Yeshua said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and infants you have prepared praise?'”

¹⁷ He left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there. ¹⁸ Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever.”

Immediately the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ When the talmidim saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?”

²¹ Yeshua answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. ²² All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

²³ When he had come into the temple, the chief cohanim and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Yeshua answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The immersion of John, where was it from? From heaven or from people?”

They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for all hold John as a prophet.” ²⁷ They answered Yeshua, and said, “We do not know.”

He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁸ But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. ³⁰ And he came to the other, and said the same thing. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said, “The first.”

Yeshua said to them, “Truly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you did not even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

³³ “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. ³⁴ When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to receive his fruit. ³⁵ The tenants took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. ³⁷ But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But the tenants, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ They told him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men, and will lease out the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him the fruit in its season.”

⁴² Yeshua said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?’

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruit. ⁴⁴ He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it will fall, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵ When the chief cohanim and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize him, they feared the crowds, because they considered him to be a prophet.

^22:1 Yeshua answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Look, I have made ready my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast.”‘ ⁵ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, ⁶ and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was filled with those reclining. ¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on wedding clothing, ¹² and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few chosen.”

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk. ¹⁶ They sent their talmidim to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you are not partial to anyone. ¹⁷ Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸ But Yeshua perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the tax money.”

They brought to him a denarius.

²⁰ He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”

²¹ They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²² When they heard it, they were astonished, and left him, and went away.

²³ On that day Sadducees came to him, the ones saying that there is no resurrection. And they asked him, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ In like manner the second also, and the third, to the seventh. ²⁷ After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”

²⁹ But Yeshua answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. ³¹ But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³ When the crowds heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. ³⁴ But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. ³⁵ One of them, a Law scholar, asked him a question, testing him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

³⁷ He said to him, “‘You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ A second likewise is this, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Yeshua asked them a question, ⁴² saying, “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They said to him, “Of David.”

⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet’?

⁴⁵ “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

⁴⁶ No one was able to answer him a word, neither did anyone dare ask him any more questions from that day forth.