Mark 11–12

The Triumphal Entry

11And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village before you, and right away as you^* enter into it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.^{* 3}And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say^a ‘The Lord has need of it, and will send it here again at once.’ ” ⁴And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵And some of those who were standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶So they told them, just as Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it.^{b 7}And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. ⁸And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread^* leafy branches they^* had cut from the fields. ⁹And those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!^c

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”^*

¹¹And he went into Jerusalem to the temple, and after^* looking around at everything, because^* the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

A Barren Fig Tree Cursed

¹²And on the next day as^* they were departing from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³And when he^* saw from a distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he^* came up to it he found nothing except leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴And he responded and^* said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you any more forever!”^d And his disciples heard it.^*

The Cleansing of the Temple

¹⁵And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered into the temple courts^* and^* began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple courts,^* and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶And he did not permit anyone to carry objects^e through the temple courts.^{* 17}And he began to teach^f and was saying to them, “Is it not written,

‘My house will be called a house of prayer

for all the nations,’^g

but you have made it a cave of robbers!” ¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it,^* and began considering^h how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came they went out of the city.

The Barren Fig Tree Withered

²⁰And as they^* passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹And Peter remembered and^* said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!” ²²And Jesus answered and^* said to them, “Have faith in God! ²³Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it,^* and it will be done for you. ²⁵And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him,^* so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”ⁱ

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

²⁷And they came again to Jerusalem. And as^* he was walking in the temple courts,^* the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him ²⁸and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you do these things?” ²⁹So Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me!” ³¹And they began to discuss^j this^* with one another, saying, “What should we say?^k If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John as truly a prophet.^{l 33}And they replied to Jesus saying, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard

12And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a trough for the winepress, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. ²And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the tenant farmers. ³And they seized him and^* beat him^* and sent him^* away empty-handed. ⁴And again he sent to them another slave, and that one they struck on the head and dishonored. ⁵And he sent another, and that one they killed. And he sent^* many others, some of whom they beat and some of whom they killed. ⁶He had one more, a beloved son. Last of all 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 us kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸And they seized and^* killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹What^a will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

this has become the cornerstone.^b

¹¹This came about from the Lord,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”^c

¹²And they were seeking to arrest him, and they were afraid of the crowd, because they knew that he had told the parable with reference to them. And they left him and^* went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³And they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him so that they could catch him unawares in a statement. ¹⁴And when they^* came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and you do not care what anyone thinks,^d because you do not regard the opinion of people^e but teach the way of God in truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” ¹⁵But because he^* knew their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at it!”^{* 16}So they brought one.^* And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!” And they were utterly amazed at him.

A Question About Marriage and the Resurrection

¹⁸And Sadducees—who say there is no resurrection—came up to him and began to ask^f him, saying, ¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies and he leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, that his brother should take the wife and father^g descendants for his brother. ²⁰There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife. And when he^* died, he did not leave descendants. ²¹And the second took her, and he died without leaving descendants. And the third likewise. ²²And the seven did not leave descendants. Last of all the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise, whose^h wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife. ²⁴Jesus said to them, “Are you not deceived because of this, because you^* do not know the scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶Now concerning the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the bushⁱ how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’?^{j 27}He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment

²⁸And one of the scribes came up and^* heard them debating. When he^* saw that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.’^{k 31}The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^l There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³²And the scribe said to him, “That is true, Teacher. You have said correctly^m that he is one and there is no other except him. ³³And to love him from yourⁿ whole heart and from your^o whole understanding and from your^p whole strength, and to love your^q neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴And Jesus, when he^* saw that he had answered thoughtfully, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to put a question to him any longer.

David’s Son and Lord

³⁵And continuing, Jesus said while^* teaching in the temple courts,^* “How can the scribes say that the Christ is David’s son? ³⁶David himself said by the Holy Spirit,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies

under your feet.” ’^r

³⁷David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ and how is he his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him gladly.

Warning to Beware of the Scribes

³⁸And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁰who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!”

A Poor Widow’s Offering

⁴¹And he sat down opposite the contribution box and^* was observing how the crowd was putting coins into the contribution box. And many rich people were putting in many coins.^{s 42}And one poor widow came and^* put in two small copper coins^t (that is, a penny).^{u 43}And summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all those who put offerings^* into the…