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 winepress pit, and built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went away.”

2And at the proper time he sent a servant to the vine-growers, so that he might receive from the vine-growers some of the fruit of the vineyard.

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

4And again he sent another servant to them, and they struck him on the head and dishonored him.

5And he sent another, and they killed that one; and many others—some they beat, and some they killed.

6He still had one, a beloved son. He sent him last to them, 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.’

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

9What will the owner 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, this has become the cornerstone’?”

11This came from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

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

13And they send to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, so that they might trap him by a word.

14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and do not care about anyone, for you do not look at the face of men, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay it, or should we not pay it?”

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

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

17But 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.

18And Sadducees came to him, who say there is no resurrection, and they began questioning him, saying,

19Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

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

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

22And the seven left no 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 why you are mistaken: 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 angels in heaven.

26And 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 God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.

28And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating, and seeing that he had answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the 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, is more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

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

35And Jesus answered and said, as he was teaching in the temple, “How do the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?”

36David 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.”’

37David himself calls him Lord, so how is he his son? And the large crowd was listening to him gladly.

38And in his teaching he was saying, “Beware of the scribes who want 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 appearance’s sake pray at length—these will receive greater condemnation.

41And sitting opposite the treasury, he was watching how the crowd was putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in much.

42And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which is a quadrans.

43And calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who are putting into the treasury.”

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