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Mark 12

The Parable of the Tenants

1 And he began to be speaking to them in parables: [a] man planted [a] vineyard, and put [a] fence around [it], and dug [a] winepress, and built [a] tower, and leased it to vinedressers, and went away. 2 And he sent [a] slave to the vinedressers in the proper-time1 , in order that he receive from the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3 And having taken [him] they beat [him] and sent [him] away empty. 4 And again he sent to them another slave; and that [one] they struck on the head and insulted. 5 And he sent another; and that [one] they killed, and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6 Yet one [more] was he sending: his agape-beloved son; he sent him last to them saying that: They will respect2 my son. 7 But those vinedressers said to themselves that: This is the heir. Come let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. 8 And having taken [him] they killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those vinedressers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture3:
A stone that the builders rejected
This became the chief cornerstone.
11 By the Lord this came to pass
And is wondrous in our eyes.

12 And they were seeking to lay hold of him, and they feared the crowd; for they knew that he spoke the parable toward them. And having left him they departed.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 And they send to him some of the Pharisees and Herodians in order that they may catch him in word. 14 And having come they to him, Teacher, we know that you are true and it is not [a] worry for you concerning anyone; for you do not regard the appearance of men, but in truth you teach the way of God; Is it allowed to give the poll-tax to Caesar or not? Should we give or not give it? 15 But knowing their hypocrisy he said to them: Why do you test me? Bring me [a] denarius in order that I may see it. 16 So they brought [one]. And he says to them: Whose is this image and inscription? So they said to him: Caesar's. 17 But Jesus said to them: Render4 the [things] of Caesar to Caesar and the [things] of God to God. And they were marveling upon it.

Marriage and the Resurrection

18 And Saducees come to him, who say there is no resurrection, and asked him saying: 19 Teacher, Moses wrote to us that5:
If any brother die, and leave behind [a] wife and not leave children, that his brother should take the wife and raise up seed to his brother.

20 There were seven brothers. And the first took [a] wife, and when he died he did not leave seed. 21 And the second took her and died not having left seed; and the third likewise. 22 And the seven did not leave seed. Last of all the wife also died. 23 In the resurrection 6, whose will the wife be? For the seven had her [as] wife.

24 Jesus said to them: Not because of this are you deceived, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they are resurrected from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in the heavens. 26 Now concerning the dead that they arise, have you not read in the scroll of Moses at the bush how the Lord spoke to him saying7:

I am the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob?

27 He is not God of the dead but of the zoe-living8 . You are greatly deceived.

The Greatest Commandment

28 And one of the scribes having come to [him] who heard them debating, having seen that he answered them well, asked him: What sort of commandment [is] first of all? 29 Jesus answered that: Here is the first9:
Be hearing, Israel, [the] Lord your God is one Lord, 30 and you will agape-love your God from all your heart, and all your psyche-life10 , and all your mind, and all your strength.

This [is the] first commandment. 31 The second [is] like [it, namely] thus11:

You will agape-love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said to him: Very good, teacher, in truth have you said that he is one and there is no other beside him. 33 And to be agape-loving him from all your strength, and to be agape-loving your neighbor as yourself is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And Jesus, having seen that he answered thoughtfully, said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God.

The Messiah: David's Son and Lord

35 And answering, Jesus was saying, teaching in the temple: How do the scribes say that the Christ is David's son? 36 For David himself said in the Holy Spirit12:
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand
Until I put your enemies under your feet.

37 David himself calls him Lord, and whence is his son? And the great crowd heard him gladly.

Warnings About Experts in the Law

38 And in his teaching he was saying: Be looking to the scribes wanting to be walking [about] in long robes and [wanting] greetings in the market-place 39 and the first seats in the synagogues and the chief places in the banquets, 40 those devouring widow's houses and in pretense praying long, these will receive greater judgment.

The Destruction of the Temple

41 And having sat opposite the treasury he beheld how the crowd throws money into the treasury. And many rich were throwing [in] much; and having come, one poor widow threw [in] two small coins, which is [about] 1/4 cents. 42 And calling upon his disciples he said to them: Truly I say to you that this poor widow has thrown [in] more than all those throwing into the treasury. 43 For all threw [in] from their excess, but she from her lack threw [in] all that she had, her entire living.


1KAIROS (καιρoς ) `opportune time', `proper time', `season'

2or "be put to shame by"

3Ps.118:22

4or "repay"

5Deut.20:5–6

6or "be put to shame by"

7Ex.3:2–6

8from ZOE "ZOH-ay" (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected. Although it means 'life' in the conventional sense (for example: Matt.9:18, Matt.27:63, Luke.2:36, Acts.25:24, Rom.7:2, 2Cor.1:8, 1Thes.4:17, 1Tim.5:10, Rev.19:20), Jesus uses ZOE exclusively of 'life eternal' (with the possible exceptions of Luke.15:13, Luke.16:25). The other N.T. writers use ZOE in both senses—temporal and eternal, generally clear from the context. The Father is the 'zoe-living God' (see Matt.16:16). The Septuagint (LXX) in Gen.2:7 has "...[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of zoe-life, and the man became a zoe-living psyche-life" (and see 1Cor.15:45); and Gen.3:20 (LXX) "And Adam called his wife's name ZOE, because she was the mother of all zoe-living." Contrast PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. See John.12:25 where both ZOE and PSYCHE occur. Greek also has the word BIOS (βιoς ) for 'life' in the sense of biological processes.

9Deut.6:4–5

10from PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. Animals have PSYCHEs as well as humans. Contrast ZOE (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected.

11Lev.19:18

12Ps.110:1