Mark 12:13–34

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^13yAnd they sent to him some of ^zthe Pharisees and some of ^zthe Herodians, to ^atrap him in his talk. ¹⁴And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^bwe know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For ^cyou are not swayed by appearances,³ but truly teach ^dthe way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^etaxes to ^fCaesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” ¹⁵But, knowing ^gtheir hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^hput me to the test? Bring me ⁱa denarius⁴ and let me look at it.” ¹⁶And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷Jesus said to them, ^j“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

¹⁸And ^kSadducees came to him, ^lwho say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^mif a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man⁵ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²²And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ⁿyou know neither the Scriptures nor ^othe power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^pmarry nor ^pare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶And as for the dead being raised, ^qhave you not read in ^rthe book of Moses, in ^sthe passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^t‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

^28uAnd 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?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^v‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^wthe Lord is one. 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.’ ^31xThe second is this: ^y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^zgreater than these.” ³²And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^whe is one, and ^athere is no other besides him. ³³And to love him with all the heart and with all ^bthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^cis much more than all ^dwhole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^eAnd after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.