Study Desk

saying to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

He was teaching day after day in the temple [porches and courts]; but the chief priests and scribes and the leading men among the people were seeking [a way] to put Him to death,

"But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are firmly convinced that John was a prophet."

"At harvest time he sent a servant [as his representative] to the tenants, so that they would give him his share of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.

"But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves, saying, 'This [man] is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.'

But Jesus looked at them and said, "What then is [the meaning of] this that is written: 'THE [very] STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE'?

The scribes and the chief priests tried to [find a way to] arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; because they understood that He spoke this parable against them.

They asked Him, "Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and that You show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God truthfully.

But He saw through their trickery and said to them,

but those who are considered worthy to gain that [other world and that future] age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

"But [as for the fact] that the dead are raised [from death], even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, when he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB.

"Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living [so these forefathers will be among the resurrected]; for all live [in a definite relationship] to Him."

for they all put in gifts from their abundance; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

"When you hear of wars and disturbances [civil unrest, revolts, uprisings], do not panic; for these things must take place first, but the end will not come immediately."

"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, and bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake.

"But you will be betrayed and handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,

"But not a hair of your head will perish.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by [hostile] armies, then understand [with confident assurance] that her complete destruction is near.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

"But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;