Luke 20

¹One day , as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel , the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up

²and said to him , Tell us by what authority you do these things , or who it is that gave you this authority .

³He answered them , I also will ask you a question . Now tell me ,

⁴was the baptism of John from heaven or from man ?

⁵And they discussed it with one another , saying , If we say , From heaven , he will say , Why did you not believe him ?

⁶But if we say , From man , all the people will stone us to death , for they are convinced that John was a prophet .

⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

⁸And Jesus said to them , Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things .

⁹And he began to tell the people this parable : A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while .

¹⁰When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants , so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard . But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed .

¹¹And he sent another servant . But they also beat and treated him shamefully , and sent him away empty-handed .

¹²And he sent yet a third . This one also they wounded and cast out .

¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said , What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son ; perhaps they will respect him .

¹⁴But when the tenants saw him , they said to themselves , This is the heir . Let us kill him , so that the inheritance may be ours .

¹⁵And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them ?

¹⁶He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others . When they heard this, they said , Surely not !

¹⁷But he looked directly at them and said , What then is this that is written : The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone ?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces , and when it falls on anyone , it will crush him .

¹⁹The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour , for they perceived that he had told this parable against them , but they feared the people .

²⁰So they watched him and sent spies , who pretended to be sincere , that they catch him in something he said , so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor .

²¹So they asked him , Teacher , we know that you speak and teach rightly , and show no partiality , but truly teach the way of God .

²²Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar , or not ?

²³But he perceived their craftiness , and said to them ,

²⁴Show me a denarius . Whose likeness and inscription does it have ? They said , Caesar’s .

²⁵He said to them , Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s , and to God the things that are God’s .

²⁶And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said , but marveling at his answer they became silent .

²⁷There came to him some Sadducees , those who deny that there is a resurrection ,

²⁸and they asked him a question , saying , Teacher , Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies , having a wife but no children , the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother .

²⁹Now there were seven brothers . The first took a wife , and died without children .

³⁰And the second

³¹and the third took her , and likewise all seven left no children and died .

³²Afterward the woman also died .

³³In the resurrection , therefore , whose wife will the woman be ? For the seven had her as wife .

³⁴And Jesus said to them , The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage ,

³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage ,

³⁶for they cannot die anymore , because they are equal to angels and are sons of God , being sons of the resurrection .

³⁷But that the dead are raised , even Moses showed , in the passage about the bush , where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob .

³⁸Now he is not God of the dead , but of the living , for all live to him .

³⁹Then some of the scribes answered , Teacher , you have spoken well .

⁴⁰For they no longer dared to ask him any question .

⁴¹But he said to them , How can they say that the Christ is David’s son ?

⁴²For David himself says in the Book of Psalms , The Lord said to my Lord , Sit at my right hand ,

⁴³until I make your enemies your footstool .

⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord , so how is he his son ?

⁴⁵And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples ,

⁴⁶Beware of the scribes , who like to walk around in long robes , and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts ,

⁴⁷who devour widows ’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers . They will receive the greater condemnation .