Markus 12 | King James Version

1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. 13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. 18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. 28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. 35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. 37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. 38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: 40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. 41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

New International Reader’s Version

The story of the tenants

1 Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing. 4 So the man sent another servant to the tenants. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly. 5 The man sent still another servant. The tenants killed him. The man sent many others. The tenants beat up some of them. They killed the others. 6 ‘The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, “They will respect my son.” 7 ‘But the tenants said to each other, “This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.” 8 So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard. 9 ‘What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those tenants. He will give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says, ‘ “The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all. 11 The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes”?’ 12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar?

13 Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words. 14 They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of honour. You don’t let other people tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’ But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, ‘Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.’ 16 They brought the coin. He asked them, ‘Whose picture is this? And whose words?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. 17 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.’ They were amazed at him.

Marriage when the dead rise

18 The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. 19 ‘Teacher’, they said, ‘Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. 20 There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. 21 The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.’ 24 Jesus replied, ‘You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. 25 When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26 What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the Book of Moses the story of the burning bush? God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.” 27 He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!’

The most important commandment

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, ‘Which is the most important of all the commandments?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘Here is the most important one. Moses said, “Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.” 31 And here is the second one. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” There is no commandment more important than these.’ 32 ‘You have spoken well, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33 To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbour as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ 34 Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, ‘You are not far from God’s kingdom.’ From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Whose son is the Messiah?

35 Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said, ‘ “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your control.’ ” 37 David himself calls him “Lord”. So how can he be David’s son?’ The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.

Warning against the teachers of the law

38 As he taught, he said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They like to be greeted with respect in the market. 39 They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honour at dinners. 40 They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish these men very much.’

The widow’s offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies. 43 Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44 They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.’

Markus 12 | King James Version New International Reader’s Version