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Matthew 22
International Children’s Bible
Matthew 22
International Children’s Bible
A Story About a Wedding Feast
22 Jesus used stories to tell other things to the people. He said, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3 The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people to come. But they refused to come to the feast.
4 “Then the king sent other servants. He said to them, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’
5 “But the people refused to listen to the servants. They went to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. 6 Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. 7 The king was very angry. He sent his army to kill the people who had killed his servants. And the army burned their city.
8 “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite everyone you see. Tell them to come to my feast.’ 10 So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “Then the king came in to see all the guests. He saw a man there who was not dressed in the right clothes for a wedding. 12 The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes for a wedding.’ But the man said nothing. 13 So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness. In that place, people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
14 “Yes, many are invited. But only a few are chosen.”
The Pharisees Try to Trap Jesus
15 Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to trap Jesus with a question. 16 They sent some of their own followers and some men from the group called Herodians.[a] These men said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. We know that you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you. All men are the same to you. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. So he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” The men showed him a silver coin.[b] 20 Then Jesus asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on the coin?”
21 The men answered, “Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.”
22 The men heard what Jesus said, and they were amazed. They left him and went away.
Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. 24 They said, “Teacher, Moses told us that a married man might die without having children. Then his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. 25 There were seven brothers among us. The first one married but died. He had no children. So his brother married the widow. 26 Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother and all the other brothers. 27 The woman was last to die. 28 But all seven men had married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”
29 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand because you don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know about the power of God. 30 When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 Surely you have read what God said to you about the rising from death? 32 God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[c] God is the God of living people, not dead people.”
33 All the people heard this. They were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.
The Most Important Command
34 The Pharisees learned that the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them. So the Pharisees met together. 35 One Pharisee was an expert in the law of Moses. That Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him. 36 The Pharisee asked, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”
37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.’[d] 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’[e] 40 All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”
Jesus Questions the Pharisees
41 While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. 42 He asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
The Pharisees answered, “The Christ is the Son of David.”
43 Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. David said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit by me at my right side,
until I put your enemies under your control.’ Psalm 110:1
45 David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”
46 None of the Pharisees could answer Jesus’ question. And after that day no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.
Footnotes
- 22:16 Herodians A political group that followed Herod and his family.
- 22:19 silver coin A Roman denarius. One coin was the average pay for one day’s work.
- 22:32 ‘I am . . . Jacob.’ Quotation from Exodus 3:6.
- 22:37 ‘Love . . . mind.’ Quotation from Deuteronomy 6:5.
- 22:39 ‘Love . . . yourself.’ Quotation from Leviticus 19:18.
Matthew 22
New International Version
Matthew 22
New International Version
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet(A)
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like(B) a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants(C) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants(D) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers(E) and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners(F) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,(G) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend(H)?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’(I)
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”(J)
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar(K)
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.(L) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a](M) to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,(N) and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.(O)
Marriage at the Resurrection(P)
23 That same day the Sadducees,(Q) who say there is no resurrection,(R) came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.(S) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures(T) or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;(U) they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[b]?(V) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.(W)
The Greatest Commandment(X)
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,(Y) the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law,(Z) tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c](AA) 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d](AB) 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(AC)
Whose Son Is the Messiah?(AD)
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,”(AE) they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’[e](AF)
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.(AG)
Footnotes
- Matthew 22:17 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens
- Matthew 22:32 Exodus 3:6
- Matthew 22:37 Deut. 6:5
- Matthew 22:39 Lev. 19:18
- Matthew 22:44 Psalm 110:1
International Children’s Bible (ICB) 
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
New International Version (NIV) 
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