Matthew 28:1–20
28:1–8pp—Mk 16:1–8; Lk 24:1–10; Jn 20:1–8
28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalenep and the other Maryq went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake,r for an angels of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stonet and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.u 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid,v for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.w Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.x There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them.y “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothersz to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guardsa went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him awayb while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor,c we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.d 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.e 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,f baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,g 20 and teachingh them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youi always, to the very end of the age.”j
Matthew 19:1–20:34
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,s he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed themt there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wifeu for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’a v 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’b?w 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”x
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”y
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.z 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
19:13–15pp—Mk 10:13–16; Lk 18:15–17
13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on thema and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongsb to such as these.”c 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
19:16–29pp—Mk 10:17–30; Lk 18:18–30
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal lifed?”e
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”f
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,g you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’c h and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’d”i
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,j go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,k and you will have treasure in heaven.l Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is richm to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”n
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!o What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,p you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.q 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wifee or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.r 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.s
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is liket a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.u 2 He agreed to pay them a denariusa for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came,v the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also …