Mark 12:1–17

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

12^*Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey. ²When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. ³The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. ⁴Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. ⁶The only one left to send was the man’s own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. ⁷But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ⁸So they seized the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹“What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and hand the vineyard over to others. ^10*Surely you have read this scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless

turned out to be the most important of all.

^11*This was done by the Lord;

what a wonderful sight it is!’ ”

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹²The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

¹³Some Pharisees and some members of Herod’s party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions. ¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth, without worrying about what people think. You pay no attention to anyone’s status, but teach the truth about God’s will for people. Tell us, is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor? Should we pay them or not?”

¹⁵But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it.”

¹⁶They brought him one, and he asked, “Whose face and name are these?”

“The Emperor’s,” they answered.

¹⁷So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.” And they were amazed at Jesus.