1 Seeing the crowds, ohe went up on the mountain, and when he psat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And qhe opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 r“Blessed are sthe poor in spirit, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are vthose who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the wmeek, for they wshall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and xthirst yfor righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are zthe merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are athe pure in heart, for bthey shall see God.
9 “Blessed are cthe peacemakers, for dthey shall be called esons1 of God.
10 f“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 g“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely hon my account. 12 iRejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for jso they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, kbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 l“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven.
17 p“Do not think that I have come to abolish qthe Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but rto fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, suntil heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 tTherefore whoever relaxes uone of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least vin the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great vin the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds wthat of the scribes and Pharisees, you xwill never enter the kingdom of heaven.
21 y“You have heard that it was said to those of old, z‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ato judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that beveryone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable ato judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to cthe hell5 of fire. 23 dSo if eyou are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 fCome to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, gyou will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6
27 h“You have heard that it was said, i‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that jeveryone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 kIf your right eye lcauses you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into mhell. 30 kAnd if your right hand lcauses you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into mhell.
31 h“It was also said, n‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 oBut I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and pwhoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again hyou have heard that it was said to those of old, q‘You shall not swear falsely, but rshall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, sDo not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for tit is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is uthe city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; vanything more than this comes from evil.7
38 h“You have heard that it was said, y‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, zDo not resist the one who is evil. But aif anyone bslaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And zif anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone cforces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 dGive to the one who begs from you, and edo not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
43 f“You have heard that it was said, g‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, iLove your enemies and jpray for those who persecute you, 45 kso that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and lsends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 mFor if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even nthe Gentiles do the same? 48 oYou therefore must be pperfect, qas your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 22
1 And again Jesus ospoke to them in parables, saying, 2 p“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave qa wedding feast for his son, 3 and rsent his servants1 to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 sAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my tdinner, umy oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But vthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, wtreated them shamefully, and xkilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ydestroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not zworthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and bgathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ca man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, d‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ecast him into the outer darkness. In that place ethere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are fcalled, but few are fchosen.”
15 gThen the Pharisees went and plotted how hto entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent itheir disciples to him, along with jthe Herodians, saying, “Teacher, kwe know that you are true and teach lthe way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for myou are not swayed by appearances.2 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ntaxes to oCaesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why pput me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.3 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, q“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they rleft him and went away.
23 The same day sSadducees came to him, twho say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, u‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, vbecause you know neither the Scriptures nor wthe power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither xmarry nor xare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, yhave you not read what was said to you by God: 32 z‘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.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, athey were astonished at his teaching.
34 bBut when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced cthe Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 dAnd one of them, ea lawyer, asked him a question fto test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, g“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And ha second is like it: iYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 jOn these two commandments depend kall the Law and the Prophets.”
41 lNow while the Pharisees mwere gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about nthe Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, n“The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, oin the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 p“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45 If then David calls him Lord, qhow is he his son?” 46 rAnd no one was able to answer him a word, snor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
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