Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, ² and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Nor ^[b]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

⁹ And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ^[c]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³ The ^[d]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[e]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!” ¹⁷ But ^[f]Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ²⁰ So they watched Him, and sent spies who ^[g]pretended to be righteous, in order that they might ^[h]catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. ²¹ They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[i]are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. ²² Is it ^[j]lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He detected their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[k]denarius. Whose ^[l]likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^[m]catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

Chambers of the Temple

42 Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north; and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. ² Along the length, which was a hundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits. ³ Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was ^[a]gallery corresponding to ^[b]gallery in three stories. ⁴ Before the chambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were ^[c]smaller because the ^[d]galleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were ^[e]set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones. ⁷ As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits. ⁸ For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was a hundred cubits. ⁹ Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ In the ^[f]thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, there were chambers. ¹¹ The way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings. ¹² Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy chambers where the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary ^[g]without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faced toward the east and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds by the measuring reed. ¹⁷ He measured on the north side five hundred reeds by the measuring reed. ¹⁸ On the south side he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ¹⁹ He turned to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it ^[h]on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the profane.