Chapter 12

Parable of the Vine-growers

1 aAnd He began to speak to them in parables: “bA man cplanted a vineyard and put a 1wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to 2vine-growers and went on a journey.

2 “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

3 “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

4 “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

5 “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

6 “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7 “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’

8 “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 “What will the 1owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.

10 “Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘aThe stone which the builders rejected,

This became the chief corner stone;

11 aThis came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 aAnd they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the 1people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so bthey left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes

13 aThen they * sent some of the Pharisees and bHerodians to Him in order to ctrap Him in a statement.

14 They * came and * said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and 1defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it 2lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

15 “Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a 1denarius to look at.”

16 They brought one. And He * said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

17 And Jesus said to them, “aRender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they 1were amazed at Him.

18 aSome Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) * came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying,

19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that aif a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should 1marry the wife and raise up children to his brother.

20 “There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.

21 “The second one 1married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise;

22 and so 1all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also.

23 “In the resurrection, 1when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For 2all seven had married her.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not 1understand the Scriptures or the power of God?

25 “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

26 “But 1regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, ain the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘bI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

27 “aHe is not the God 1of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

28 aOne of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and brecognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the 1foremost of all?”

29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘aHear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;

30 aand you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

31 “The second is this, ‘aYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that aHe is One, and there is no one else besides Him;

33 aand to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, bis much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” aAfter that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

35 aAnd Jesus began to say, as He btaught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that 1the Christ is the cson of David?

36 “David himself said 1in the Holy Spirit,

‘aThe Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.” ’

37 “David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And athe large crowd 1enjoyed listening to Him.

38 aIn His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like brespectful greetings in the market places,

39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

40 awho devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

41 aAnd He sat down opposite bthe treasury, and began observing how the people were cputting 1money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.

42 A poor widow came and put in two 1small copper coins, which amount to a 2cent.

43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all 1the contributors to the treasury;

44 for they all put in out of their 1surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, 2all she had ato live on.”