Mar 12 | LSB | STEP | And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it , and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower , and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

Mark 12

Parable of the Vine-Growers

1 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a ^{▼▼Or fence}wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to ^{▼▼Or tenant farmers, so in vv 2, 7, 9}vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, 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 And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the ^{▼▼Lit lord}owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the chief corner stone;
11 This came about from the ^{▼▼ In OT, Yahweh, cf. Ps 118:23} Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

Taxes to Caesar

13 Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. 14 And they *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^{▼▼You do not seek anyone’s favor; lit it is not a concern to You about anyone}defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^{▼▼Or permissible}lawful to pay a tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^{▼▼A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wage}denarius to look at.” 16 And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they ^{▼▼Or were greatly marveling}were amazed at Him.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

18 Then some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should ^{▼▼Lit take}marry the wife and raise up a seed for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first ^{▼▼Lit took}married a wife, and died leaving no ^{▼▼Or offspring}seed. 21 And the second one ^{▼▼Lit took}married her, and died leaving behind no seed; and the third likewise; 22 and so ^{▼▼Lit the seven}all seven left no seed. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, ^{▼▼Early mss omit when they rise again}when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For ^{▼▼Lit the seven}all seven ^{▼▼Lit had her as a wife}had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^{▼▼Or know}understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But ^{▼▼Lit concerning the dead, that they rise}regarding the fact that the dead are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning 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 greatly mistaken.”

The Foremost Commandment

28 And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the ^{▼▼Or first}foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The ^{▼▼In OT, Yahweh, cf. Deut 6:4}Lord our God is one ^{▼▼In OT, Yahweh, cf. Deut 6:4}Lord; 30 and you shall love the ^{▼▼In OT, Yahweh, cf. Deut 6:5}Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.

35 And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the ^{▼▼Messiah}Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself said ^{▼▼Or by}in the Holy Spirit,

‘The ^{▼▼ In OT, Yahweh, cf. Ps 110:1} Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.” ’
37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd ^{▼▼Lit was gladly hearing Him}enjoyed listening to Him.

38 And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes, and want respectful greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the crowd was putting ^{▼▼Copper coins}money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two ^{▼▼Smallest Greek copper coin, approx. 1/128 of a laborer’s daily wage}lepta, which amount to a ^{▼▼A Roman copper coin, approx. 1/64 of a laborer’s daily wage}quadrans. 43 And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their ^{▼▼Or abundance}surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^{▼▼Lit her whole livelihood}all she had to live on.”