Mark 12
12
1 And he began to speak to them in parables: "A man dug a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a pit, and built a tower, and he loaned it out to farmers, and he set out on a long journey.
2 And in time, he sent a servant to the farmers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the farmers.
3 But they, having apprehended him, beat him and sent him away empty.
4 And again, he sent another servant to them. And they wounded him on the head, and they treated him with contempt.
5 And again, he sent another, and him they killed, and many others: some they beat, but others they killed.
6 Therefore, having still one son, most dear to him, he sent him also to them, at the very end, saying, 'For they will reverence my son.'
7 But the settlers said one to another: 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him. And then the inheritance will be ours.'
8 And apprehending him, they killed him. And they cast him out of the vineyard.
9 Therefore, what will the lord of the vineyard do?" "He will come and destroy the settlers. And he will give the vineyard to others."
10 "And so, have you not read this scripture?: 'The stone which the builders have rejected, the same has been made the head of the corner.
11 By the Lord has this been done, and it is wondrous in our eyes.' "
12 And they sought to take hold of him, but they feared the crowd. For they knew that he had spoken this parable about them. And leaving him behind, they went away.
13 And they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to him, so that they might trap him with words.
14 And these, arriving, said to him: "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you do not favor anyone; for you do not consider the appearance of men, but you teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give the tribute to Caesar, or should we not give it?"
15 And knowing their skill in deception, he said to them: "Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, so that I may see it."
16 And they brought it to him. And he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."
17 So in response, Jesus said to them, "Then render to Caesar, the things that are of Caesar; and to God, the things that are of God." And they wondered over him.
18 And the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, approached him. And they questioned him, saying:
19 "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if any man's brother will have died and left behind a wife, and not have left behind sons, his brother should take his wife to himself and should raise up offspring for his brother.
20 So then, there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and he died without leaving behind offspring.
21 And the second took her, and he died. And neither did he leave behind offspring. And the third acted similarly.
22 And in like manner, each of the seven received her and did not leave behind offspring. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 Therefore, in the resurrection, when they will rise again, to which of them will she be a wife? For each of the seven had her as wife."
24 And Jesus responded by saying to them: "But have you not gone astray, by knowing neither the scriptures, nor the power of God?
25 For when they will be resurrected from the dead, they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but they are like the Angels in heaven.
26 But concerning the dead who rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how God spoke to him from the bush, 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. Therefore, you have gone far astray."
28 And one of the scribes, who had heard them arguing, drew near to him. And seeing that he had answered them well, he questioned him as to which was the first commandment of all.
29 And Jesus answered him: "For the first commandment of all is this: 'Listen, O Israel. The Lord your God is one God.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole mind, and from your whole strength. This is the first commandment.'
31 But the second is similar to it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
32 And the scribe said to him: Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth that there is one God, and there is no other beside him;
33 and that he should be loved from the whole heart, and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul, and from the whole strength. And to love one's neighbor as one's self is greater than all holocausts and sacrifices."
34 And Jesus, seeing that he had responded wisely, said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to question him.
35 And while teaching in the temple, Jesus said in answer: "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
36 For David himself said in the Holy Spirit: 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I set your enemies as your footstool.'
37 Therefore, David himself calls him Lord, and so how can he be his son?" And a great multitude listened to him willingly.
38 And he said to them in his doctrine: "Beware of the scribes, who prefer to walk in long robes and to be greeted in the marketplace,
39 and to sit in the first chairs in the synagogues, and to have the first seats at feasts,
40 who devour the houses of widows under the pretense of long prayers. These shall receive the more extensive judgment."
41 And Jesus, sitting opposite the offertory box, considered the way in which the crowd cast coins into the offertory, and that many of the wealthy cast in a great deal.
42 But when one poor widow had arrived, she put in two small coins, which is a quarter.
43 And calling together his disciples, he said to them: "Amen I say to you, that this poor widow has put in more than all those who contributed to the offertory.
44 For they all gave from their abundance, yet truly, she gave from her scarcity, even all that she had, her entire living."
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Mark 12
12
A Story About God’s Son
1Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 2When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. 5So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.
6“The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7“But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 8So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9“So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. 10Surely you have read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone.
11The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’ ”#Psalm 118:22–23
12The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.
Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?
13Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay them, or not?”
But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.” 16They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”
They answered, “Caesar’s.”
17Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
18Then some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) 19They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20Once there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no children. 21So the second brother married the widow, but he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. 22All seven brothers married her and died, and none of the brothers had any children. Finally the woman died too. 23Since all seven brothers had married her, when people rise from the dead, whose wife will she be?”
24Jesus answered, “Why don’t you understand? Don’t you know what the Scriptures say, and don’t you know about the power of God? 25When people rise from the dead, they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26Surely you have read what God said about people rising from the dead. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush, it says that God told Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27God is the God of the living, not the dead. You Sadducees are wrong!”
The Most Important Command
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”
29Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31The second command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There are no commands more important than these.”
32The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You were right when you said God is the only Lord and there is no other God besides him. 33One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”
34When Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely, Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.
35As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? 36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right side,
until I put your enemies under your control.” ’ #Psalm 110:1
37David himself calls the Christ ‘Lord,’ so how can the Christ be his son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.
38Jesus continued teaching and said, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing fancy clothes, and they love for people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces. 39They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at feasts. 40But they cheat widows and steal their houses and then try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. They will receive a greater punishment.”
True Giving
41Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.
43Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 44They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.