Renters of a Vineyard
(Matthew 21.33-46; Luke 20.9-19)

Mark 12Jesus then told them this story:

A farmer once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

²When it was harvest time, he sent a servant to get his share of the grapes. ³The renters grabbed the servant. They beat him up and sent him away without a thing.

⁴The owner sent another servant, but the renters beat him on the head and insulted him terribly. ⁵Then the man sent another servant, and they killed him. He kept sending servant after servant. They beat some of them and killed others.

⁶The owner had a son he loved very much. Finally, he sent his son to the renters because he thought they would respect him. ⁷But they said to themselves, "Someday he will own this vineyard. Let's kill him! That way we can have it all for ourselves." ⁸So they grabbed the owner's son and killed him. Then they threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹Jesus asked, "What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard. ¹⁰You surely know that the Scriptures say,
'The stone that the builders tossed aside
is now the most important stone of all.
¹¹This is something the Lord has done,
and it is amazing to us.' "
¹²The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left.

Paying Taxes
(Matthew 22.15-22; Luke 20.20-26)

¹³The Pharisees got together with Herod's followers. Then they sent some men to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. ¹⁴They went to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are honest. You treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. And you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?"
¹⁵Jesus knew what they were up to, and he said, "Why are you trying to test me? Show me a coin!"
¹⁶They brought him a silver coin, and he asked, "Whose picture and name are on it?"
"The Emperor's," they answered.
¹⁷Then Jesus told them, "Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God." The men were amazed at Jesus.

Life in the Future World
(Matthew 22.23-33; Luke 20.27-40)

¹⁸The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So some of them came to Jesus and said:

¹⁹Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother. ²⁰There were once seven brothers. The first one married, but died without having any children. ²¹The second brother married his brother's widow, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, ²²and finally to all seven brothers. At last the woman died. ²³When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? After all, she had been married to all seven brothers.

²⁴Jesus answered:

You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. ²⁵When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, "I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." ²⁷He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.

The LORD Makes Solomon Wise
(2 Chronicles 1.1-13)

1 Kings 3 Solomon signed a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. She lived in the older part of Jerusalem until the palace, the LORD's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem were completed.
²At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the LORD, and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines. ³Solomon loved the LORD and followed his father David's instructions, but Solomon also offered sacrifices and burned incense at the shrines.
⁴The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than a thousand sacrifices on that altar.
⁵One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the LORD God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."
⁶Solomon answered:

My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king. ⁷LORD God, I'm your servant, and you've made me king in my father's place. But I'm very young and know so little about being a leader. ⁸And now I must rule your chosen people, even though there are too many of them to count.

⁹Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don't, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.

^10-11God said:

Solomon, I'm pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. ¹²So I'll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.

¹³I'll also give you what you didn't ask for. You'll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you'll be greater than any other king. ¹⁴If you obey me and follow my commands, as your father David did, I'll let you live a long time.

¹⁵Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord and sacrifices to ask his blessing. Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.

Solomon Makes a Difficult Decision

¹⁶One day two women came to King Solomon, ¹⁷and one of them said:

Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, ¹⁸and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us.

¹⁹One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. ²⁰Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me.

²¹In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn't my son.

²²"No!" the other woman shouted. "He was your son. My baby is alive!"
"The dead baby is yours," the first woman yelled. "Mine is alive!"
They argued back and forth in front of Solomon, ²³until finally he said, "Both of you say this live baby is yours. ²⁴Someone bring me a sword."
A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered, ²⁵"Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him."
²⁶"Please don't kill my son," the baby's mother screamed. "Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don't kill him."
The other woman shouted, "Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby."
²⁷Solomon said, "Don't kill the baby." Then he pointed to the first woman, "She is his real mother. Give the baby to her."
²⁸Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.

The LORD's People Speak

Hosea 6Let's return to the LORD. He has torn us to shreds,
but he will bandage our wounds and make us well.
²In two or three days he will heal us
and restore our strength that we may live with him.
³Let's do our best to know the LORD.
His coming is as certain as the morning sun;
he will refresh us like rain renewing the earth
in the springtime.

The LORD Speaks to Israel and Judah

⁴People of Israel and Judah, what can I do with you?
Your love for me disappears more quickly
than mist or dew at sunrise.
⁵That's why I slaughtered you
with the words of my prophets.
That's why my judgments blazed like the dawning sun.
⁶I'd rather for you to be faithful and to know me
than to offer sacrifices.

⁷At a place named Adam, you betrayed me
by breaking our agreement.
⁸Everyone in Gilead is evil;
your hands are stained with the blood of victims.
⁹You priests are like a gang of robbers in ambush.
On the road to Shechem you murder
and commit other horrible crimes.
¹⁰I have seen a terrible thing in Israel--
you are unfaithful and unfit to worship me.
¹¹People of Judah, your time is coming too.

The LORD Wants To Help Israel

I, the LORD, would like to make my nation prosper again
Hosea 7and to heal its wounds.
But then I see the crimes in Israel and Samaria.
Everyone is deceitful; robbers roam the streets.
²No one realizes that I have seen their sins surround them
like a flood.