12
1 Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, and dug a pit for a winepress. He built a watchtower and then leased the vineyard to vine growers. Then he went away on a journey.
2 At the harvest time, he sent a servant to the vine growers to receive from the vine growers some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away with nothing.
4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully.
5 He sent yet another, and this one they killed. He sent many others: they beat some, and they killed others.
6 He had still one more to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 But those vine growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine growers and will give the vineyard to others.
10 Have you not read this scripture? ‘ The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the cornerstone.
11 This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’”
12 Then they sought to arrest Jesus, but they feared the crowd, for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.
13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him in order to trap him with words.
14 When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and do not defer to anyone, for you do not look at people’ s appearance. Instead, you teach the way of God according to truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or not pay?”
15 But Jesus knew their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.”
16 So they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose is this likeness and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’ s.”
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God.” They marveled at him.
18 Then Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him. They asked him, saying,
19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If a man’ s brother dies and leaves a wife behind, but does not leave a child, then he should take his brother’ s wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’
20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife and then died, not leaving offspring.
21 Then the second took her and died, not leaving offspring, and the third likewise.
22 The seven did not leave offspring. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For all seven brothers had her as their wife.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God?
25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven.
26 But concerning the dead that are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account 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’?
27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite mistaken.”
28 Now one of the scribes came and heard them discussing this together. When he saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second commandment is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other greater commandment than these.”
32 The scribe said to him, “Good, Teacher! You have truly said that God is one, and there is no other besides him.
33 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 even more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one any longer dared to ask Jesus questions.
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked and said, “How do the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, said, ‘ The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be David’ s son?” The large crowd gladly listened to him.
38 In his teaching Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like greetings in the marketplaces, and to walk in long robes,
39 and the chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at the feasts.
40 They devour widows’ houses, and they pray long prayers for people to see. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
41 Then Jesus sat down across from the temple offering box; he was watching how the crowd dropped money into the box. Many rich people put in large amounts.
42 Then a poor widow came and put in two mites, which are worth a penny.
43 He called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them who contributed to the offering box.
44 For all of them gave out of their abundance. But this widow, out of her poverty, put in everything she had, all she had to live on. “
The Gospel of Mark