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
The Story of the Renters
1Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly. 5The man sent still another servant. The renters killed him. The man sent many others. The renters beat up some of them. They killed the others.
6“The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, ‘They will 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, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.
9“What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those renters. He will give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says,
“ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
11The Lord has done it.
It is wonderful in our eyes’?” (Psalm 118:22,23)
12Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had 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. They wanted to trap him with his own words. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of honor. You don’t let other people tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin. He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”
They were amazed at him.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
18The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. 20There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. 21The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. 22In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”
24Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. 25When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the Book of Moses the story of the burning bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) 27He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!”
The Most Important Commandment
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) 31And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”
32“You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your control.” ’ (Psalm 110:1)
37David himself calls him ‘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. They like to be greeted with respect in the market. 39They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. 40They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish these men very much.”
The Widow’s Offering
41Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies.
43Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”
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