Mark 12

The AIT Bible

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers

1And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.

2At the harvest season, he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

3But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

4Again he sent another servant to them. They struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

5And he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others: some they beat, and others they killed.

6He had one left to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

8So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

9What then will the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.

10Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

11This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

12Then they sought 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.

A Question About Paying Taxes

13And they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him to trap him in his words.

14They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and you show deference to no one, for you do not look at people’s status, but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay?”

15But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so I can see it.”

16They brought one. And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

17Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

18Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him, saying,

19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but leaves no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

20There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and when he died, he left no offspring.

21The second took her and died, leaving no offspring. And the third did likewise.

22And none of the seven left offspring. Last of all, the woman also died.

23In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that 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 angels in heaven.

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 spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.”

The Most Important Commandment

28One of the scribes came up and heard them debating. Seeing that Jesus had answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important commandment of all?”

29Jesus answered, “The most important 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 in truth 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, is more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34And when Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

The Christ and the Son of David

35And as Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

36David himself, speaking in 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 heard him with delight.

A Warning Against the Scribes

38And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and receive greetings in the marketplaces,

39and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets,

40who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive a greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

41And he sat down opposite the treasury and was watching how the crowd put money into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in large sums.

42And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a quadrans.

43And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.

44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had—her whole livelihood.”

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