Mark 12

1 And 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 tower, and let it out to farmers, and went abroad. 2 And at the season he sent a slave to the farmers, to receive from the farmers some of the fruits of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; and that one they struck on the head and treated shamefully. 5 And he sent another; and that one they killed — and many others, beating some and killing some.

6 “He still had one, a beloved son. He sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. † 10 Have you not read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone. 11 This came from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?” [a] 12 And they were seeking to seize him, and they feared the crowd, for they knew that he had told the parable against them. And they left him and went away.

13 And they send to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to trap him in a word. 14 And they came and say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and that it does not matter to you about anyone, for you do not look at people’s faces but teach the way of God in truth. Is it permitted to give the tax to Caesar or not? Are we to give, or are we not to give?” [b] 15 But he knew their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius so that I may see it.” [c] 16 And they brought one. And he says to them, “Whose image is this, and the inscription?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “Give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God.” And they were amazed at him. †

18 And Sadducees come to him, who say there is no resurrection, and they were asking him, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies and leaves a wife behind and leaves no child, his brother is to take the wife and raise up seed for his brother. [d] 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and when he died left no seed. 21 And the second took her and died, leaving no seed behind; and the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not why you are going astray — because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like messengers in the heavens. [e] 26 But concerning the dead, that they are raised — have you not read in the book of Moses, at the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? [f] 27 He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are going far astray.”

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and seeing that he had answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is: ‘Hear, Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, 30 and you are to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and with your whole strength.’ [g] 31 The second is this: ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other command greater than these.” [h] †

32 And the scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You have said truly that he is one and there is no other besides him; 33 and to love him with the whole heart and with the whole understanding and with the whole strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [i] 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered with good sense he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

35 And Jesus answered and was saying, as he taught in the temple, “How do the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ [j] 37 David himself calls him lord; so how is he his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him gladly. 38 And in his teaching he was saying, “Watch out for the scribes, who want to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the first seats in the synagogues and the first places at dinners — 40 those who eat up the houses of the widows and for a pretense pray at length. These will receive a greater judgment.”

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and was watching how the crowd throws copper into the treasury. And many rich people were throwing in much. 42 And one poor widow came and threw in two lepta, which is a quadrans. [k] † 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Amen, I tell you that this poor widow has thrown in more than all those throwing into the treasury; 44 for they all threw in out of what they have to spare, but she out of her need threw in everything she had — her whole living.”