1 About that time, Augustus the Roman ruler made a law. All the people in the world must have their names written down in a book.
2 This was the first time names were written in a book in this way. Quirinius was the ruler of Syria at that time.
3 Everyone went to his home town to have his name written in the book.
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in Judea. This was Davids town, and Joseph came from Davids family line.
5 He went to have his name written in the book. Joseph took Mary with him. She was promised to Joseph to be his wife. She was going to have a baby.
18 They will bring you to rulers and kings for my sake. Then you will talk about me to them and to those who are not Jews.
19 When men take you to court, do not be troubled about what you will say. What you are to say will come to your mind at the right time.
25 If someone wants to take you to court, make an agreement with him quickly on the way. If you do not, he will take you to the judge. The judge will give you to the guard, and the guard will put you in prison.
26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out of prison until you have paid every piece of money.
12 Obey every officer of the government to please the Lord. Obey the king because he is over all.
13 Obey the rulers because they are sent by him. They are sent to punish those who do wrong things and to praise those who do good things.
14 That is what God wants you to do. He wants you to do good things. By doing good things, you will stop foolish people from saying wrong things about you. They say wrong things about you because they do not know you.
9 A door has opened for me to do much good work here. But there are many people against me.
8 Do not have any debts, but love each other. Anyone who loves his neighbour has done all that the law says we should do.
10 Then Pilate said, Do you not answer me? Do you not know that I have power to nail you to a cross, or to let you go free?
11 Jesus said, You would have no power over me if God did not give you power. So then, the man who gave me up to you has done something worse than you.
1 Every person must obey the rulers over him. Every ruler has his power from God. And the rulers are put there by God.
2 So anyone who fights against the ruler, fights against what God put there. And those who fight will be punished.
3 The rulers do not bring fear to a good man, but they bring fear to a bad man. If you do not want to be afraid of a ruler, do what is good and he will praise you.
4 Such a person is Gods servant and will do what is good for you. But if you do what is wrong, you should fear him. He has great power and he will use it. He is Gods servant and will punish those who do wrong.
5 So you must obey, not only because of the punishment, but because you know it is right.
6 That is why you also pay taxes. The rulers serve God and they give all their time to their work.
7 Pay them all that they should have. Pay taxes to the person who should have the taxes. Pay money to the person who should have the money. Respect the people who should be respected. Honour a person who should be honoured.
17 So tell us. What do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or is it not?
18 Jesus knew they were trying to get him into trouble. So he said to them, Why are you trying to get me to do wrong? You are not true to yourselves!
19 Show me a piece of money used for tax. They brought him a piece of money.
20 Whose picture and name is this? he asked.
21 They said, Caesars.Then he said to them, Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.
24 They came to Capernaum. There the men who were collecting the tax for the temple came to Peter. They asked him, Does not your teacher pay the tax for the temple?
25 Peter said, Yes, he does. When he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him about it first. He said, Simon, what do you think? From whom do kings on earth take taxes? Do they take them from their own people or from other people?
26 Peter said, From other people. Jesus said, Then the sons do not pay a tax.
27 But we must not make them think something wrong about us. So go to the sea. Throw a fish-hook into the water. Take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth and you will see a piece of money. Take it and pay them the tax for you and me.