Mark 12

1 And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard.3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully.5 And he sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some.6 He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard.9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.10 Have ye not read even this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;

11 This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?

12 And they sought to lay hold on him; and they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spake the parable against them: and they left him, and went away.13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk.14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why make ye trial of me? bring me a denarius, that I may see it.16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.17 And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled greatly at him.18 And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,19 Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.20 There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed;21 and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise:22 and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died.23 In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.24 Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God?25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven.26 But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err.28 And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all?29 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one:30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.31 The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.32 And the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is one; and there is none other but he:33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.35 And Jesus answered and said, as he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the son of David?36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.

37 David himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he his son? And the common people heard him gladly.38 And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces,39 and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts:40 they that devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation.41 And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.42 And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing.43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury:44 for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Mark 12

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

(Mt 21.33–46; Lk 20.9–19)

1 Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey.t 2 When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. 3 The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. 4 Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. 5 The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. 6 The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’

8 So they seized the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9  “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and hand the vineyard over to others.

10 Surely you have read this scripture:t
‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
turned out to be the most important of all.

11  This was done by the Lord;
what a wonderful sight it is!’ ”

12 The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

The Question about Paying Taxes

(Mt 22.15–22; Lk 20.20–26)

14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth, without worrying about what people think. You pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people. Tell us, is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor? Should we pay them or not?”

15 But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it.”

16 They brought him one, and he asked, “Whose face and name are these?”
“The Emperor's,” they answered.

17 So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.”
And they were amazed at Jesus.

The Question about Rising from Death

(Mt 22.23–33; Lk 20.27–40)

23 Now, when all the dead rise to life on the day of resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”
24 Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! And do you know why? It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power. 25 For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. 26 Now, as for the dead being raised: haven't you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’t

27 He is the God of the living, not of the dead. You are completely wrong!”

The Great Commandment

(Mt 22.34–40; Lk 10.25–28)

28 A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”t
29 Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord.tt 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

31 The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”t
32 The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he.t

33 And to love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.”t

34 Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

The Question about the Messiah

(Mt 22.41–46; Lk 20.41–44)

36 The Holy Spirit inspired David to say:t
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit here on my right
until I put your enemies under your feet.’

37  David himself called him ‘Lord’; so how can the Messiah be David's descendant?”

Jesus Warns against the Teachers of the Law

(Mt 23.1–36; Lk 20.45–47)

40 They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!”

The Widow's Offering

(Lk 21.1–4)