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Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: |
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"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. |
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He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. |
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"Then he sent some more servants and said,`Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' |
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"But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. |
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The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. |
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The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. |
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"Then he said to his servants,`The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. |
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Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' |
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So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. |
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"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. |
12
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`Friend,' he asked,`how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. |
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"Then the king told the attendants,`Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' |
14
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"For many are invited, but few are chosen." |
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Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. |
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They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. |
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Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" |
18
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But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? |
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Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, |
20
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and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" |
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"Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." |
22
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When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. |
23
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That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. |
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"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. |
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Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. |
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The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. |
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Finally, the woman died. |
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Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?" |
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Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. |
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At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. |
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But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, |
32
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`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." |
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When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. |
34
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Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. |
35
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One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: |
36
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"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" |
37
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Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' |
38
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This is the first and greatest commandment. |
39
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And the second is like it:`Love your neighbour as yourself.' |
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All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
41
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While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, |
42
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"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" "The son of David," they replied. |
43
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He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him`Lord'? For he says, |
44
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"`The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' |
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If then David calls him`Lord', how can he be his son?" |
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No-one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no-one dared to ask him any more questions. |
Matthew 22:1 English Language Bible Words basic statistical display
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