Mark 11–12

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

11When^aj they approached Jerusalem,^ak at Bethphage and Bethany^al near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ²and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’ ”

⁴So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, ⁵and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.

⁷They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their clothes on the road,^am and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.^{A 9}Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted:

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes

in the name^an of the Lord!^Bap

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom^aq

of our father David!^ar

Hosanna^as in the highest heaven!

¹¹He went into Jerusalem^at and into the temple.^au After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany^av with the Twelve.

THE BARREN FIG TREE IS CURSED

¹²The^aw next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³Seeing in the distance a fig^ax tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit^ay from you again!”^az And his disciples^ba heard it.

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

¹⁵They came to Jerusalem,^bb and he went into the temple^bc and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers^bd and the chairs of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. ¹⁷He was teaching them: “Is it not written,^be My house^bf will be called a house of prayer^bg for all nations?^C But you have made it a den of thieves!”^Dbh

¹⁸The chief priests and the scribes^a heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid^b of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.

¹⁹Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

THE BARREN FIG TREE IS WITHERED

²⁰Early^c in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹Then Peter^d remembered and said to him, “Rabbi,^e look! The fig tree that you cursed^f has withered.”

²²Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God.^{g 23}Truly I tell you,^h if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubtⁱ in his heart, but believes^j that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.^{k 24}Therefore I tell you, everything you pray^l and ask for^m—believe that you have received^En it and it will be yours. ²⁵And whenever you stand^o praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive^p him, so that your Father^q in heaven^r will also forgive^s you your wrongdoing.”

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED

²⁷They^t came again to Jerusalem.^u As he was walking in the temple,^v the chief priests, the scribes,^w and the elders^x came ²⁸and asked him, “By what authority^y are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;^z then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰Was John’s baptism^aa from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”

³¹They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe^ab him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.^{ac 33}So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD OWNER

12He began to speak to them in parables:^ad “A man planted a vineyard,^ae put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ²At harvest time he sent^af a servant^ag to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^ah of the vineyard from them. ³But they took him, beat^ai him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{aj 4}Again he sent another servant to them, and they^A hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.^{B 5}Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶He still had one to send, a beloved^ak son. Finally^al he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹What then will the owner^Cam of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Haven’t you read this Scripture:^an

The^ao stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.^ap

¹¹This came about from the Lord^aq

and is wonderful in our eyes?”^D

¹²They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

GOD AND CAESAR

¹³Then^ar they sent some of the Pharisees^as and the Herodians^at to Jesus to trap him in his words.^{au 14}When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality^av but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes^aw to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

¹⁵But knowing their hypocrisy,^ax he said to them, “Why are you testing^ay me? Bring me a denarius^Eaz to look at.” ¹⁶They brought a coin. “Whose image^ba and inscription^bb is this?” he asked them.

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”^bc And they were utterly amazed^bd at him.

THE SADDUCEES AND THE RESURRECTION

¹⁸Sadducees,^be who say there is no resurrection,^bf came to him and questioned him: ¹⁹“Teacher,^a Moses^b wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child,^c that man should take the wife^d and raise up offspring for his brother.^{Ae 20}There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring. ²¹The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²²None of the seven^B left offspring. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise,^C whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her?”

²⁴Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures^f or the power^g of God?^{h 25}For when they riseⁱ from the dead,^j they neither marry nor are given in marriage^k but are like angels^l in heaven. ²⁶And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I^m am the God of Abrahamⁿ and the God of Isaac^o and the God of Jacob?^{Dp 27}He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”

THE PRIMARY COMMANDS

²⁸One^q of the scribes^r approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important^E is Listen, Israel! The Lord^s our God, the Lord^t is one.^{F 30}Love^u the Lord your God^v with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, ^w and with all your strength.^{GHx 31}The second is, Love your neighbor ^y as yourself.^Iz There is no other command^aa greater than these.”

³²Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one^ab else except him.^{ac 33}And to love^ad him with all your heart, with all your understanding,^j and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^ae

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

THE QUESTION ABOUT THE MESSIAH

³⁵While^ah Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked,^ai “How can the scribes^aj say that the Messiah^ak is the son of David?^{al 36}David^am himself says by the Holy Spirit:^an

The Lord^ao declared to my Lord,

‘Sit at my right hand^ap

until I put your enemies under your feet.’^Aaq

³⁷David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

WARNING AGAINST THE SCRIBES

³⁸He^ar also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes^as and who want greetings in the marketplaces,^{at 39}the best seats^au in the synagogues,^av and the places of honor^aw at banquets.^{ax 40}They devour^ay widows’^az houses and say long prayers^ba just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”

THE WIDOW’S GIFT

⁴¹Sitting^bb across from the temple treasury,^bc he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich^bd people were putting in large sums. ⁴²Then a poor^be widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. ⁴³Summoning his disciples,^bf he said to them, “Truly I tell you,^bg this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.^{bh 44}For they all gave out of their surplus,^bi but she out of her poverty^bj has put in everything she had^bk—all she had to live on.”^bl