Mark 12

The Parable of the Tenants

1  a And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted b a vineyard c and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and d leased it to tenants and e went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant ▼
▼ Greek bondservant; also verse 4
 to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3  g And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4  h Again i he sent to them another servant, and j they struck him on the head and k treated him shamefully. 5  l And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, m a beloved son. n Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another o ‘This is the heir. Come p let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and q threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? r He will s come and destroy the tenants and t give the vineyard to others. 10  u Have you not read v this Scripture:

w “‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ▼
▼ Greek  the head of the corner

 11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And y they were seeking to arrest him z but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they aa left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13  ab And they sent to him some of ac the Pharisees and some of ad the Herodians, to ae trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher af we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For ag you are not swayed by appearances ▼
▼ Greek  you do not look at people’s faces
 but truly teach ai the way of God. Is it lawful to pay aj taxes to ak Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing al their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why am put me to the test? Bring me an a denarius ▼
▼ A  denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer
 and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, ap “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

18 And aq Sadducees came to him ar who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that as if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man ▼
▼ Greek his brother
 must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because au you know neither the Scriptures nor av the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither aw marry nor ax are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised ay have you not read in az the book of Moses, in ba the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying bb ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

28  bc And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, bd ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God be the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31  bf The second is this: bg ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment bh greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that bi he is one, and bj there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all bk the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself bl is much more than all bm whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” bn And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35  bo And as bp Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that bq the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself br in the Holy Spirit, declared,

bs “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies bt under your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him Lord. So bu how is he his son?” And the great throng bv heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38  bw And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and bx the places of honor at feasts, 40  by who devour widows’ houses and bz for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

41  ca And he sat down opposite cb the treasury and watched the people cc putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two cd small copper coins, which make a penny. ▼
▼ Greek  two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer)
 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you cf this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her cg poverty has put in everything she had, all ch she had to live on.”

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