1. When Jesus returned to the temple, He began to teach, and the religious leaders came to Him and asked Him, "By what authority are You doing these things; who gave You this authority?"
2. Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing, and if you answer me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.
3. "The baptism of John, from what source was it? Was it from heaven or from man?"
4. And the religious leaders reasoned among themselves and said, "If we say John's baptism was from heaven, He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say it was from man, then the people will rise up and stone us for they all regard John the Baptist as a real prophet."
5. So they said to Jesus, "We do not know."
6. And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
7. Then Jesus told a parable saying, "There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and then he rented it out to some workers and went on a long journey.
8. "When the time for the harvest approached, the landowner sent his servants to the workers to collect his share of the profits.
9. "But the workers took the servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
10. "Again, the landowner sent another group of servants, even more than the first, and they did the same to them.
11. "Then he sent his own son to them saying, 'Surely, they will respect my only child.'
12. "But when the workers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; let us kill him and steal his inheritance.'
13. "So they took the only child of the landowner and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
14. "Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those workers"?
15. And they said to Jesus, "He will kill those workers and rent out the vineyard to those who will pay him his share in due season."
16. Then Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone; this turn of events came about from God and it is a marvelous work.
17. "And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but the one on whom it falls will be utterly crushed.
18. "Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce fruit from it."
19. When the chief priests heard this parable, they understood that He was speaking about them, but they did not seize Him then, for the people considered Him to be a prophet. So they left Him for the time and went away.
20. But they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch Him in a statement that would make Him guilty before Governor Pilate.
21. Some questioned Him, saying, "Teacher we know that You only speak the truth, and You are not swayed by anyone's judgment of You, but You are always listening to God. Therefore, is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the government or not?"
22. Jesus, perceiving their evil, said to them, "You hypocrites; why do you test Me? Show Me a coin. Whose likeness and inscription is on it?"
23. They said to Him, "It is Cesar and it bears a government seal."
24. So He said to them, "Then render unto Cesar what belongs to Cesar, and give to God what belongs to God."
25. And at that, they realized they could not catch Him in a lawless statement in the presence of the people. And being amazed at His answers they remained silent.
26. Then some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus to question Him, and they asked Him, "Teacher, if a man dies and his wife remarries, and then that man dies, and the wife remarries again, and then that man dies, and finally the wife, herself, dies; If there is a resurrection of the dead in heaven, whose wife will she be?"
27. Jesus said to them, "You do not understand the power of God. For the children of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are found worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven neither marry nor are they given in marriage, for they are like angels and are the Children of God.
28. "And as for the resurrection of the dead, the God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You fail to recognize that and are greatly mistaken.
29. "But you who have studied without ceasing are lacking in the knowledge of your nature, and therefore are utterly lacking. For you are like those who love the fruit of a tree but hate the tree; or you love the tree but hate the fruit.
30. "And how miserable is a person that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two."
31. Then a scribe tested Him by asking, "Which is the greatest commandment?"
32. And Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the greatest commandment.
33. "The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
34. "These two are the foundation of the law and the prophets."
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