Mark 12

The Story of the Renters

1Then Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard, put up a wall around it, dug a pit for a winepress, and built a lookout tower. Then he rented the vineyard out to some farmers and moved to another place. 2When harvest time came, he sent a servant to the renters to collect some of the vineyard’s fruit from them. 3But they grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him away with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit that one over the head and treated him badly. 5The man sent a different servant, and the renters killed him. The man kept sending servants, but the renters beat some of them up and killed others.

6“The man had one person left to send. It was his son, who he loved. He finally sent him, thinking, ‘They’ll have to respect my son.’

7“But the renters said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come on, let’s kill him, and then everything will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him and tossed his body out of the vineyard.

9“What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He’ll come and kill those renters and give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says?

“ ‘The stone that the builders didn’t accept

has become the most important stone of all.

11The Lord has done this,

and it’s wonderful to see.’ ”

12Then the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus, because they knew he’d told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?

13Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to see if they could trap him with his own words. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re honest and that you don’t let other people tell you what to do or say, no matter how important they are. Instead, you teach the way of God truthfully. So, according to the law of Moses, is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar, or not? 15Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew they had bad motives for asking. So he responded, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin and let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin and he asked them, “Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name and titles?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered.

17Then Jesus told them, “Return to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and return to God what belongs to God.”

They were amazed by this answer.

Marriage When the Dead Rise

18Then the Sadducees, who don’t believe that people rise from the dead, came to Jesus with a question. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote in the law that if a man dies without having any children, but he leaves a wife behind, his brother has to marry the widow so that she can have children to carry on her late husband’s name. 20There were seven brothers. The first one got married, but he died without having any children. 21The next brother married his widow, but he also died and left no children. The same thing happened to the third one, 22and in fact, all seven brothers were married to her, but none of them left any children. Last of all, the woman died herself. 23When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”

24Jesus answered, “You’re going wrong here because you don’t know the Scriptures and you don’t know the power of God. 25When the dead rise, people won’t get married, and parents won’t arrange marriages for their children. Everyone will be like the angels in heaven. 26But as for whether people rise from the dead, haven’t you read the story of the burning bush in the Book of Moses? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27So he isn’t the God of the dead; he’s the God of the living. You don’t even know where to start!”

The Most Important Commandment

28One of the teachers of the law had been listening to the discussion and he realized that Jesus had given a good answer. So he came up and asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

29Jesus answered, “The most important one is, ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31And there’s a second one: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ None of the other commandments are more important than these.”

32“That’s a good answer, teacher,” the man replied. “You’re right to say that God is one and there’s no other God but him. 33And to love God with all your heart and mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself, is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, and he said to him, “You’re not far from the kingdom of God.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

35While Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your control.” ’

37David calls the Messiah his ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

38As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted with respect in the marketplace, 39and to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40But they cheat widows out of their houses and say long prayers just to show off. God will punish them very severely.”

The Widow’s Offering

41Jesus sat down across from the place where people gave their offerings at the temple. He watched as the crowd put their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came along and put in two very small copper coins that were worth only a few pennies.

43Jesus called over his disciples and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44They gave a lot of money, but it was extra money they could afford to give. She gave even though she was poor. She put in all she had—everything she needed to live on.”

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Mark 12

A Story about a Vineyard

(Matthew 21:33–46; Luke 20:9–19)

1Then, using this illustration, Jesus spoke to them. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, made a vat for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to vineyard workers and went on a trip.

2“At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to collect from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard. 3The workers took the servant, beat him, and sent him back with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to them. They hit the servant on the head and treated him shamefully. 5The man sent another, and they killed that servant. Then he sent many other servants. Some of these they beat, and others they killed.

6“He had one more person to send. That person was his son, whom he loved. Finally, he sent his son to them. He thought, ‘They will respect my son.’

7“But those workers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9“What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the workers and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you never read the Scripture passage:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

11The Lord has done this,

and it is amazing for us to see’?”

12They wanted to arrest him but were afraid of the crowd. They knew that he had directed this illustration at them. So they left him alone and went away.

A Question about Taxes

(Matthew 22:15–22; Luke 20:20–26)

13The leaders sent some of the Pharisees and some of Herod’s followers to Jesus. They wanted to trap him into saying the wrong thing. 14When they came to him, they said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth. You don’t favor individuals because of who they are. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay taxes to the emperor or not? Should we pay taxes or not?”

15Jesus recognized their hypocrisy, so he asked them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a coin so that I can look at it.”

16They brought a coin. He said to them, “Whose face and name is this?”

They told him, “The emperor’s.”

17Jesus said to them, “Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and give God what belongs to God.”

They were surprised at his reply.

The Dead Come Back to Life

(Matthew 22:23–33; Luke 20:27–40)

18Some Sadducees, who say that people will never come back to life, came to Jesus. They asked him, 19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother should marry his widow and have children for his brother.’ 20There were seven brothers. The first got married and died without having children. 21The second married her and died without having children. So did the third. 22None of the seven brothers had any children. Last of all, the woman died. 23When the dead come back to life, whose wife will she be? The seven brothers had married her.”

24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power? 25When the dead come back to life, they don’t marry. Rather, they are like the angels in heaven. 26Haven’t you read in the book of Moses that the dead come back to life? It’s in the passage about the bush, where God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ 27He’s not the God of the dead but of the living. You’re badly mistaken!”

Love God and Your Neighbor

(Matthew 22:34–40)

28One of the experts in Moses’ Teachings went to Jesus during the argument with the Sadducees. He saw how well Jesus answered them, so he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of them all?”

29Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. 30So love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

32The expert in Moses’ Teachings said to Jesus, “Teacher, that was well said! You’ve told the truth that there is only one God and no other besides him! 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus heard how wisely the man answered, he told the man, “You’re not too far from God’s kingdom.”

After that, no one dared to ask him another question.

How Can David’s Son Be David’s Lord?

(Matthew 22:41–46; Luke 20:41–44)

35While Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he asked, “How can the experts in Moses’ Teachings say that the Messiah is David’s son? 36David, guided by the Holy Spirit, said,

‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Take the honored position—the one next to me [God the Father] on the heavenly throne—

until I put your enemies under your control.” ’

37David calls him Lord. So how can he be his son?”

Jesus Disapproves of the Example Set by the Experts in Moses’ Teachings

(Matthew 23:1–12; Luke 20:45–47)

The large crowd enjoyed listening to him. 38As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the experts in Moses’ Teachings! They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted in the marketplaces, 39and to have the front seats in synagogues and the places of honor at dinners. 40They rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make themselves look good. The experts in Moses’ Teachings will receive the most severe punishment.”

A Widow’s Contribution

(Luke 21:1–4)

41As Jesus sat facing the temple offering box, he watched how ⌞much⌟ money people put into it. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42A poor widow dropped in two small coins, worth less than a cent.

43He called his disciples and said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: This poor widow has given more than all the others. 44All of them have given what they could spare. But she, in her poverty, has given everything she had to live on.”

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