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 ³¹The 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 ⁴²And one poor widow came and^* put in two small copper coins^t (that is, a penny).^u ⁴³And 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 contribution box. ⁴⁴For they all contributed^v out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, her whole means of subsistence.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
kA quotation from Deut 6:4–5; Josh 22:5
lA quotation from Lev 19:18
mLiterally “in accordance with truth”
nLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
oLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
pLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
qLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
*Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“teaching”) which is understood as temporal
*Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
rA quotation from Ps 110:1
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sat down”) has been translated as a finite verb
sAlthough often translated “large sums,” the plural here suggests large numbers of individual coins, which would make an impressive noise
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
tThis coin was the lepton, worth 1/128 of a denarius
uThis coin was the quadrans, the smallest Roman coin, worth 2 lepta
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
vLiterally “put in”