Mark 12

₁Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey. ₂When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. ₃The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. ₄Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. ₅The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. ₆The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. ₇But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ₈So they seized the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

₉“What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and hand the vineyard over to others. ₁₀Surely you have read this scripture:

₁₂The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

₁₃Some Pharisees and some members of Herod's party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions. ₁₄They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth, without worrying about what people think. You pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people. Tell us, is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor? Should we pay them or not?”

₁₅But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it.”

₁₆They brought him one, and he asked, “Whose face and name are these?”

“The Emperor's,” they answered.

₁₇So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.”

And they were amazed at Jesus.

₁₈Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said, ₁₉“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.’ ₂₀Once there were seven brothers; the eldest got married and died without having children. ₂₁Then the second one married the woman, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, ₂₂and then to the rest: all seven brothers married the woman and died without having children. Last of all, the woman died. ₂₃Now, when all the dead rise to life on the day of resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”

₂₄Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! And do you know why? It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power. ₂₅For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. ₂₆Now, as for the dead being raised: haven't you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ₂₇He is the God of the living, not of the dead. You are completely wrong!”

₂₈A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

₂₉Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. ₃₀Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ₃₁The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”

₃₂The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. ₃₃And to love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.”

₃₄Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

₃₅As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked the question, “How can the teachers of the Law say that the Messiah will be the descendant of David? ₃₆The Holy Spirit inspired David to say:

A large crowd was listening to Jesus gladly. ₃₈As he taught them, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the market place, ₃₉who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts. ₄₀They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!”

₄₁As Jesus sat near the temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; ₄₂then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. ₄₃He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. ₄₄For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had — she gave all she had to live on.”