Matthew 22:15-40

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 ^aThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ^bto entangle him in his words. 16And they sent ^ctheir disciples to him, along with ^dthe Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^ewe know that you are true and teach ^fthe way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for ^gyou are not swayed by appearances. ▼

▼Greek for you do not look at people’s faces

17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ⁱtaxes to ^jCaesar, or not?” 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^kput me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ▼

▼A  denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

20And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, ^m“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22When they heard it, they marveled. And they ⁿleft him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23The same day ^oSadducees came to him, ^pwho say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ^q‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27After them all, the woman died. 28In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, ^rbecause you know neither the Scriptures nor ^sthe power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither ^tmarry nor ^uare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31And as for the resurrection of the dead, ^vhave you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ^w‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33And when the crowd heard it, ^xthey were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 ^yBut when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced ^zthe Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 ^aaAnd one of them, ^aba lawyer, asked him a question ^acto test him. 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, ^ad“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And ^aea second is like it: ^afYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 ^agOn these two commandments depend ^ahall the Law and the Prophets.”