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Mark 12

¹He began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. He rented it out to tenants and left on a journey. ²And he sent a servant to his tenants at the appropriate time to receive the fruit from his vineyard. ³But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty handed. ⁴And again he sent another servant to them. They beat this one on the head this one and insulted him. ⁵He sent another one, and the killed that one. Then he sent many others. Some the beat, some they killed. ⁶He still had one other person he could send--a beloved son. He finally sent him to them, saying, 'They will honor my son!' ⁷But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir! Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!' ⁸So they took him and killed him and threw him outside the vineyard. ⁹What then will the owner of that vineyard do? He will go and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Have you never read this scripture:

The stone that the builders rejected
is the very one that has become the cornerstone?
¹¹This comes from the Lord
And it looks marvelous to us!"

¹²And they sought to seize him, but they were afraid of the crowd, for they knew that the parable was spoken against them. They left him and went away.

¹³Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to trap him with a controversial issue. ¹⁴When they got there they said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and you don't concern yourself with what others think, because you don't look at a person's face, but you sincerely teach God's way of life. Is it proper to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?" ¹⁵But knowing their trickery he said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it. ¹⁶So they brought him one. Then he asked them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" Thjey said, "Caesar's." ¹⁷So he said to them, "Give Caesar's things to Caesar and God's things to God." And they were amazed at him.

¹⁸Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him, ¹⁹"Teacher, Moses wrote for us: 'If a man's borther dies, and leaves a wife, but no child, then his brother must take the wife, and raise up descendants for his brother."

²⁰There were seven brothers, and the first one took a wife and died without leaving a descendant. ²¹The second took her, and died, not leaving a descendent, and the third did the same thing. ²²And all seven did so, but left no descendant. Finally the woman also died. ²³In the resurrection, when they rise, to which of them does that woman belong? For they all had her!'"

²⁴Jesus said to them, "Here's why you're wrong: You don't know the scriptures nor the power of God. ²⁵For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but they will be like the angels in heaven." ²⁶But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses at the bush, how God spoke to him and said, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? ²⁷God is not the God of the dead, but of the living! You are very deceived!"

²⁸And one of the scribes heard them debating, and when he saw that Jesus had answered them well, he came and asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" ²⁹Jesus answered, "First is, 'Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord, ³⁰ and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heard and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' ³¹And the second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no greater commandment than these." ³²And the scribe said to him, "Excellent, teacher, you're really right when you say that he is one, and there is none other than him, ³³ and 'loving him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength' and 'loving your neighbor as yourself' is better than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. ³⁴And when Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And nobody was dared to ask him questions any more.

³⁵In response Jesus began to teach in the temple this way: "How is it that the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶David said by the Holy Spirit,

The Lord said to my lord
Sit at my right side,
Until I place your enemies
as a footstool under your feet.

³⁷If David himself calls him 'lord' then where does he become David's son?"
And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

³⁸And as he was teaching he began to say, "Beware of the scribes who want to walk about in fancy robes and to receive greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and the best seats in the synagogues and best places at feasts, ⁴⁰ who eat up the households of widows and make a show of long prayers. These will receive the greater judgment.

⁴¹And he sat down by the treasury, and he was watching how the crowd threw money into the contribution box. And many rich people threw in lots! ⁴²Then one poor widow came and threw in two small copper coins about the equivalent of a penny. ⁴³And he called his disciples to him and he said to them, "Truly I tell you that this poor widow has thrown in more than all of those who have thrown money into the contribution box. ⁴⁴For they all threw in from their abundance, but she gave everything she had from her lack, all of her living.

Average revision: 3 (Draft # 1 by individual translator)