MODERN LITERAL VERSION

20:1 And it happened on one of those days, while he is teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good-news, the priests and the scribes, with the elders stood up;
20:2 and they spoke saying to him, Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is he who gave you this authority?

20:3 And answering, he said to them, I will also ask you* one question and tell me.
20:4 The immersion* of John, was it from heaven or from men?

20:5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we should say, From heaven; he will say, Then why did you* not believe him?
20:6 But if we say, From men; all the people will stone us; for* they have confidence that John was a prophet.
20:7 And they answered that they did not know where it was from.

20:8 And Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you* by what authority I am doing these things.

20:9 And he began to speak to the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard and rented it to farmers and went abroad for a considerable time.
20:10 And in the harvest season he sent to the farmers a bondservant, that* they might give to him from the fruit of the vineyard, but the farmers whipped him and sent him away empty handed.
20:11 And he sent yet another bondservant and they also whipped and dishonored him and sent him away empty .
20:12 And he sent yet a third and they also traumatized him and cast him forth.
20:13 And the lord of the vineyard said, What should I do? I will send my beloved son; perchance seeing him, they will revere him.
20:14 But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir. Come-here. We should kill him, that* the inheritance may become ours.
20:15 And they cast him forth outside the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
20:16 He will come and destroy these farmers and will give the vineyard to others.
And when they heard it, they said, Let it not happen!

20:17 But he looked on them and said, Then* what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected*, this one has become the head of the corner?' {Ps. 118:22}
20:18 Everyone who falls upon that stone will be shattered, but upon whomever it falls, it will smash him.

20:19 And the high-priests and the scribes sought to put hands upon him in that same hour and they feared; for* they knew that he spoke this parable to them.
20:20 And they having observed him, sent forth agents, who pretended to be righteous, that* they might take him in his speech, *that* they might give him to the rule and to the authority of the governor.
20:21 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that you say and teach uprightly and do not accept the countenance of men, but in truth, are teaching the way of God.
20:22 Is it legal for us to give tax to Caesar or not?

20:23 But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, Why do you* test me?
20:24 Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription has it?
And answering, they said, Caesar's.

20:25 And he said to them, Now-then, give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.
20:26 And they were not strong-enough to grasp his declaration before the people and they marveled at his answer and were silent.

20:27 And some of the Sadducees came to him, those who contradict that there is a resurrection;
20:28 and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote to us, that* if anyone's brother dies, who had a wife and he should die childless, his brother should take the wife and should raise* up seed to his brother. {Deut. 25:5}
20:29 Therefore there were seven brethren and the first took a wife and died childless;
20:30 and the second took the woman and he died childless;
20:31 and the third took her, and likewise* the seven also left no children and died.
20:32 Later the woman also died.
20:33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them does she become? For* the seven had her as wife.

20:34 And Jesus answering, said to them, The sons of this world marry and are betrothed.
20:35 But those who are deemed worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are they betrothed,
20:36 for* neither are they able to die any more; for* they are equal to the messengers, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
20:37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses divulged in the place concerning the bush, as he calls the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. {Ex. 3:6}
20:38 Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for* all live to him.

20:39 And some of the scribes answering said, Teacher, you have said well.
20:40 But they did not dare any more to ask him anything.

20:41 And he said to them, How is it that they say the Christ is David's son?
20:42 And David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,
20:43 until I should place your enemies under the footstool of your feet. {Ps. 110:1}
20:44 Therefore, David calls him Lord, and so how is he his son?

20:45 And he said to his disciples with all the people hearing this,
20:46 Take-heed of the scribes, who wish to walk in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and foremost seats in the synagogues and foremost-places in the suppers;
20:47 who are devouring widow's houses and are praying long prayers for a pretext. These will receive even-more condemnation.