1 I will sing continually about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”
3 The Lord said,
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” (Selah)
5 O Lord, the heavens praise your amazing deeds,
as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.
6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,
7 a God who is honored in the great angelic assembly,
and more awesome than all who surround him?
8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
Who is strong like you, O Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the proud sea.
When its waves surge, you calm them.
10 You crushed the Proud One and killed it;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.
You made the world and all it contains.
12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
13 Your arm is powerful,
your hand strong,
your right hand victorious.
14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.
15 How blessed are the people who worship you!
O Lord, they experience your favor.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated by your justice.
17 For you give them splendor and strength.
By your favor we are victorious.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Then you spoke through a vision to your faithful followers and said:
“I have placed a young hero over a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from the people.
20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.
21 My hand will support him,
and my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute from him;
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,
and by my name he will win victories.
25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father, my God, and the protector who delivers me.’
27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure.
29 I will give him an eternal dynasty,
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.
30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
31 if they break my rules
and do not keep my commandments,
32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,
their sin by inflicting them with bruises.
33 But I will not remove my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise.
34 I will not break my covenant
or go back on what I promised.
35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,
I will never deceive David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will endure before me, like the sun;
37 it will remain stable, like the moon.
His throne will endure like the skies.” (Selah)
38 But you have spurned and rejected him;
you are angry with your chosen king.
39 You have repudiated your covenant with your servant;
you have thrown his crown to the ground.
40 You have broken down all his walls;
you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.
41 All who pass by have robbed him;
he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.
42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious,
and all his enemies to rejoice.
43 You turn back his sword from the adversary,
and have not sustained him in battle.
44 You have brought to an end his splendor,
and have knocked his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short his youth,
and have covered him with shame. (Selah)
46 How long, O Lord, will this last?
Will you remain hidden forever?
Will your anger continue to burn like fire?
47 Take note of my brief lifespan.
Why do you make all people so mortal?
48 No man can live on without experiencing death,
or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. (Selah)
49 Where are your earlier faithful deeds, O Lord,
the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?
50 Take note, O Lord, of the way your servants are taunted,
and of how I must bear so many insults from people.
51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;
they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps.
52 The Lord deserves praise forevermore!
We agree! We agree!
1 Now one day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things? Or who is it who gave you this authority?” 3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from people?” 5 So they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they replied that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by whose authority I do these things.”
9 Then he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave to the tenants so that they would give him his portion of the crop. However, the tenants beat his slave and sent him away empty-handed. 11 So he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 So he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” 17 But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” 19 Then the experts in the law and the chief priests wanted to arrest him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
20 Then they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 Thus they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar or not?” 23 But Jesus perceived their deceit and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 So he said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 Thus they were unable in the presence of the people to trap him with his own words. And stunned by his answer, they fell silent.
27 Now some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection) came to him. 28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man must marry the widow and father children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”
34 So Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses revealed that the dead are raised in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him.” 39 Then some of the experts in the law answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well!” 40 For they did not dare any longer to ask him anything.
41 But he said to them, “How is it that they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
44 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
45 As all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the experts in the law. They like walking around in long robes, and they love elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ property, and as a show make long prayers. They will receive a more severe punishment.”