Mark 12:1–17

A Story About God’s Son

12Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ²When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. ⁵So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.

⁶“The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷“But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ⁸So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹“So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. ¹⁰Surely you have read this Scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

became the cornerstone.

¹¹The Lord did this,

and it is wonderful to us.’ ”

¹²The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?

¹³Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians ⁿ to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. ¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay them, or not?”

But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.” ¹⁶They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”

They answered, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.