Matthew 22:11-22

11Then the king came into the room to see all the people. He saw one man who was not wearing the right clothes for a marriage.

12The king said to the man, “How did you come in here, my friend? You are not wearing the right clothes for a marriage.” The man could not answer the king.

13The king said to his servants, “Tie his hands and his feet. Take him and throw him into the dark place outside. There, people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.”

14God asks many people to come to him. But he only chooses a few people to be there with him.’

15After the Pharisees heard this, they thought about what they could do. They wanted to ask Jesus difficult questions. They wanted to make him say something wrong about the Roman ruler.

16So the Pharisees sent their own disciples to Jesus. They also sent people who were friends of King Herod. They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that you only say true things. You teach us what God wants us to do. It does not matter to you what other people think. If someone is important, you do not change your answers to make them happy.

17So tell us your answer to this question: Should we pay our taxes to the Roman ruler, Caesar? Is it right to give that money to him, or not?’

18Jesus knew that these men wanted to do bad things to him. So he said to them, ‘You are asking that question to cause trouble for me. You are not being honest!

19Now, show me the coin that you use for the tax.’ So they brought a coin to him.

20Then Jesus asked them, ‘Whose picture is on this coin? Whose name is on it?’

21They replied, ‘It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name.’ Jesus said to them, ‘So you should give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. And give to God the things that belong to God.’

22When they heard Jesus' answer, they were very surprised. So they left him and they went away.