Mark 12:18–27

The Question about Rising from Death

^18*Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said, ^19*“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man’s brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man’s children.’ ²⁰Once there were seven brothers; the eldest got married and died without having children. ²¹Then the second one married the woman, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, ²²and then to the rest: all seven brothers married the woman and died without having children. Last of all, the woman died. ²³Now, when all the dead rise to life on the day of resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! And do you know why? It is because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power. ²⁵For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. ^26*Now, as for the dead being raised: haven’t you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ²⁷He is the God of the living, not of the dead. You are completely wrong!”