Luke 23:2Easy To Read VersionThey began to accuse Jesus. They told Pilate, “We caught this man trying to change the thinking of our people. He says we should not pay taxes to Caesar. {\cf2\super [369]} He calls himself the Christ, {\cf2\super [370]} a king.” See the chapter |
I hear people whispering against me.\par Everywhere, I hear things that scare me.\par Even my friends are saying things\par against me.\par People are just waiting for me\par to make some mistake.\par They are saying,\par “Let us lie and say he did some bad thing.\par Maybe we can trick Jeremiah.\par Then we will have him.\par We will finally be rid of him.\par Then we will grab him\par and take our revenge on him.”\par
Then those royal officials that heard the things Jeremiah was telling the people went to King Zedekiah. They said to the king, “Jeremiah must be put to death. He is making the soldiers that are still in the city become discouraged. Jeremiah is discouraging everyone by the things he is saying. Jeremiah does not want good to happen to us. He wants to ruin the people of Jerusalem.”
But we don’t want to make these tax collectors angry. So \{pay the tax in this way\}: Go to the lake and fish. After you catch the first fish, open the fish’s mouth. Inside its mouth you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that coin and give it to the tax collectors. That will pay the tax for you and me.”