Mark 12

¹And he began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. ²At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Again he sent another slave to them, and that one they struck on the head and treated shamefully. ⁵And he sent another, and that one they killed—and many others, some they beat, some they killed.

⁶"He still had one left: a beloved son. He sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ⁷But those tenants said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' ⁸And they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹"What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected— this has become the cornerstone. ¹¹This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

¹²And they were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they knew he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

¹³Then they send to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians to trap him with a question. ¹⁴And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and defer to no one, for you do not regard people's status, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar, or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay?"

¹⁵But knowing their pretense, he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it." ¹⁶And they brought one. And he says to them, "Whose image is this, and whose inscription?" They said to him, "Caesar's." ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God." And they were utterly amazed at him.

¹⁸Then Sadducees come to him—the ones who say there is no resurrection—and they questioned him, saying, ¹⁹"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife but leaves no child, his brother should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying he left no offspring. ²¹And the second took her, and died leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²²And all seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."

²⁴Jesus said to them, "Is this not why you go astray—because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in the heavens. ²⁶But concerning the dead, that they are raised—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? ²⁷He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken."

²⁸And one of the scribes approached, having heard them debating, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is first of all?" ²⁹Jesus answered, "The first is: 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰And 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.' ³¹The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

³²And the scribe said to him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken truly that he is one, and there is no other besides him. ³³And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself—this is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴And Jesus, seeing that he answered with insight, said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one any longer dared to question him.

³⁵And while teaching in the temple, Jesus responded by saying, "How is it that the scribes say the Messiah is David's son? ³⁶David himself, by the Holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.'

³⁷David himself calls him 'lord'—so how is he his son?" And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

³⁸And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes—the ones who desire to walk about in long robes, and want greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹and the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets— ⁴⁰who devour the households of widows and for show offer lengthy prayers. These will receive a more severe judgment."

⁴¹And sitting down across from the treasury, he was watching how the crowd was putting money into the treasury. Many wealthy people were putting in large amounts. ⁴²And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which together make a penny. ⁴³And calling his disciples to him, he said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had—her whole livelihood."