Mark 12
The Parable of the Tenants
" JESUS then
began to speak to them in parables:
‘A man planted a vineyard. He
put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then
he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.
2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from
them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the
head and treated him shamefully.
5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many
others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6 He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of
all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 But the tenants said to one another,
‘This is the heir. Come, let’s
kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the
vineyard.
9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill
those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
‘THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED
HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE;
11 THE
LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.’?
12 Then the chief
priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest HIM
because they knew HE had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid
of the crowd; so they left HIM and went away.
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to JESUS to catch HIM in
HIS words.
14 They came to HIM and said,
‘Teacher, we know that YOU are A MAN OF INTEGRITY.
YOU AREN’T SWAYED BY OTHERS, BECAUSE YOU PAY NO ATTENTION TO WHO THEY
ARE;
But YOU TEACH THE WAY OF GOD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
TRUTH.
Is it right to pay the imperial
tax to Caesar or not?
15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’
But JESUS knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why
are you trying to trap ME?’
HE asked. ‘Bring me a
denarius and let ME look at it.’
16 They
brought the coin, and HE asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose
inscription?”
‘Caesar’s,’ they replied.
17 Then JESUS
said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to GOD what is GOD’s.’
And they were amazed at HIM.
Marriage at the Resurrection
18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no RESURRECTION, came
to HIM with a question.
19 ‘TEACHER,’
they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife
but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his
brother.
20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died
without leaving any children.
21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no
child. It was the same with the third.
22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the
woman died too.
23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the
seven were married to her?”
24 JESUS replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the
Scriptures or THE
POWER OF GOD?
25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in
marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the account of the burning bush, how GOD said to him,
‘I am THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD
OF JACOB’?
27 He is not THE GOD of the dead, but OF THE LIVING. You are badly mistaken!’
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.
Noticing that JESUS
had given them a good answer, he asked HIM, ‘Of all the commandments, which is
the most important?’
29 ‘The most important one,’ answered JESUS, ‘is this:
‘Hear, O Israel: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS
ONE.
30 Love
THE LORD YOUR GOD
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength.’
31 The
second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater
than these.’
32 ‘Well said, TEACHER,’
the man replied. ‘YOU are right in saying that GOD IS ONE AND THERE IS NO OTHER BUT HIM.
33 To love HIM with all your heart, with all your understanding and
with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important
than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’
34 When JESUS
saw that HE had answered wisely, HE said to him,
‘You are not far from the kingdom
of GOD.’ And
from then on no one dared ask HIM any more questions.
Whose SON Is the MESSIAH?
35 While JESUS
was teaching in the temple courts, HE asked,
‘Why do the teachers of the law
say that THE MESSIAH
is THE SON OF DAVID?
36 David
himself, speaking by THE HOLY SPIRIT, declared:
‘THE
LORD said to MY LORD:
‘Sit at MY right hand
until I put YOUR enemies
under YOUR feet.’
37 David himself
calls HIM ‘LORD’. How then can HE be his son?”
The large crowd listened to HIM
with delight.
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law
38 As he taught, JESUS said,
‘Watch out for the teachers of the
law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in
the marketplaces,
39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places
of honor at banquets.
40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.
These men will be punished most severely.’
The Widow’s Offering
41 JESUS sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and
watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich
people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,
worth only a few cents.
43 Calling HIS disciples to HIM, JESUS said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor
widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty,
put in everything—all she had to live on.’
