The Parable of the Banquet

¹Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables:

²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

³He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

⁴Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business.

⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy.

⁹Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes.

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’But the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.

¹⁶They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.

¹⁷So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?

¹⁹Show Me the coin used for the tax.”And they brought Him a denarius.

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

²¹“Caesar’s,” they answered.So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²²And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.

²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died without having children. So he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brothers, down to the seventh.

²⁷And last of all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.”

²⁹Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

³⁰In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angelsin heaven.

³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:

³²‘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.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together.

³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:

³⁶“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

³⁷Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment.

³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them:

⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?”“David’s,” they answered.

⁴³Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:

⁴⁴‘The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right handuntil I put Your enemiesunder Your feet.”’

⁴⁵So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

Temple Destruction and Other Signs

¹As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.

²“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.

⁵For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Witnessing to All Nations

⁹Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

¹⁰At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

¹¹and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

¹²Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

¹³But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

¹⁷Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.

¹⁸And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

¹⁹How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!

²⁰Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.

²¹For at that time there will be great tribulation, unseen from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.

²²If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

²³At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

²⁵See, I have told you in advance.

The Return of the Son of Man

²⁶So if they tell you, ‘There He is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days:‘The sun will be darkened,and the moon will not give its light;the stars will fall from the sky,and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

³⁰At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³²Now learn this lessonfrom the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near,right at the door.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Readiness at Any Hour

³⁶No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.

³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

³⁹And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

⁴³But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’

⁴⁹And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.

⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate.

⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Temple Destruction and Other Signs

¹As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!”

²“Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,

⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled?”

⁵Jesus began by telling them, “See to it that no one deceives you.

⁶Many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many.

⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Witnessing to All Nations

⁹So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.

¹⁰And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.

¹¹But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

¹³You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴So when you see the abomination of desolationstanding where it should not be(let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

¹⁵Let no one on the housetop go back inside to retrieve anything from his house.

¹⁶And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

¹⁷How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!

¹⁸Pray that this will not occur in the winter.

¹⁹For those will be days of tribulation unseen from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again.

²⁰If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.

²¹At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

²²For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

²³So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.

The Return of the Son of Man

²⁴But in those days, after that tribulation:‘The sun will be darkened,and the moon will not give its light;

²⁵the stars will fall from the sky,and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

²⁶At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁸Now learn this lessonfrom the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

²⁹So also, when you see these things happening, know that He is near,right at the door.

³⁰Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Readiness at Any Hour

³²No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³³Be on your guard and stay alert!For you do not know when the appointed time will come.

³⁴It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.

³⁵Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning.

³⁶Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping.

³⁷And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”

God’s Faithful Messiah

¹The LORD said to my Lord:“Sit at My right handuntil I make Your enemiesa footstool for Your feet.”

²The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion:“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

³Your people shall be willingon Your day of battle.Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,to You belongs the dew of Your youth.

⁴The LORD has swornand will not change His mind:“You are a priest foreverin the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is at Your right hand;He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.

⁶He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead;He will crush the leaders far and wide.

⁷He will drink from the brook by the road;therefore He will lift up His head.