Mark 12 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Parable of the Tenants

(Mat 21:33–46; Luk 20:9–19 )

Mar 12:1And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.

Mar 12:2

Mar 12:2When the season came, he sent a servant[fn] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

Mar 12:3

Mar 12:3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

Mar 12:4

Mar 12:4Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

Mar 12:5

Mar 12:5And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

Mar 12:6

Mar 12:6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

Mar 12:7

Mar 12:7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

Mar 12:8

Mar 12:8And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

Mar 12:9

Mar 12:9What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Mar 12:10

Mar 12:10Have you not read this Scripture:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[fn]

Mar 12:11

Mar 12:11this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Mar 12:12

Mar 12:12And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

(Mat 22:15–22; Luk 20:20–26 )

Mar 12:13

Mar 12:13And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.

Mar 12:14

Mar 12:14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances,[fn] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

Mar 12:15

Mar 12:15But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius[fn] and let me look at it.”

Mar 12:16

Mar 12:16And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

Mar 12:17

Mar 12:17Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

(Mat 22:23–33; Luk 20:27–40 )

Mar 12:18

Mar 12:18And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,

Mar 12:19

Mar 12:19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[fn] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

Mar 12:20

Mar 12:20There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring.

Mar 12:21

Mar 12:21And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.

Mar 12:22

Mar 12:22And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died.

Mar 12:23

Mar 12:23In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

Mar 12:24

Mar 12:24Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

Mar 12:25

Mar 12:25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Mar 12:26

Mar 12:26And as for the dead being 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’?

Mar 12:27

Mar 12:27He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

(Mat 22:34–40; Luk 10:25–28 )

Mar 12:28

Mar 12:28And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Mar 12:29

Mar 12:29Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Mar 12:30

Mar 12:30And 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.’

Mar 12:31

Mar 12:31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mar 12:32

Mar 12:32And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.

Mar 12:33

Mar 12:33And 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 much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Mar 12:34

Mar 12:34And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

(Mat 22:41–46; Luk 20:41–44 )

Mar 12:35

Mar 12:35And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

Mar 12:36

Mar 12:36David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

Mar 12:37

Mar 12:37David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

(Mat 23:1–7; Luk 20:45–47 )

Mar 12:38

Mar 12:38And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces

Mar 12:39

Mar 12:39and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

Mar 12:40

Mar 12:40who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

(Luk 21:1–4 )

Mar 12:41

Mar 12:41And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.

Mar 12:42

Mar 12:42And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[fn]

Mar 12:43

Mar 12:43And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.

Mar 12:44

Mar 12:44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(12:2)

Or bondservant; also verse 4

(12:10)

Greek the head of the corner

(12:14)

Greek you do not look at people’s faces

(12:15)

A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

(12:19)

Greek his brother

(12:42)

Greek two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer)

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Mark Chapter 12 — Additional Translations:

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