12:1 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a ①fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ②vine-growers and went on a journey.
▷ ①Or hedge ②Or tenant farmers, also vv 2, 7, 9
12:2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.
12:3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
12:4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.
12:5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.
12:6 He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
12:7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’
12:8 And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
12:9 What will the ①owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others.
▷ ①Lit lord
12:10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS HAS BECOME THE ①CHIEF CORNERSTONE;
▷ ①Lit head of the corner
12:11 THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”
12:12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ①people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.
▷ ①Lit crowd
12:13 Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.
12:14 They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ①do not care what anyone thinks; for You ②are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ③permissible to pay a ④poll-tax to Caesar, or not?
▷ ①Lit it is not a concern to You about anyone ②Lit do not look at the face of people ③I.e., by Jewish law and tradition ④I.e., a tax on each person in the census
12:15 Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ①denarius to look at.”
▷ ①The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
12:16 And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
12:17 And Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.
12:18 Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to ①Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying,
▷ ①Lit Him
12:19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ①marry the wife and raise up ②children for his brother.
▷ ①Lit take ②Lit seed, also vv 20-22
12:20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.
12:21 The second one ①married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise;
▷ ①Lit took
12:22 and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died.
12:23 In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.”
12:24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ①understand the Scriptures nor the power of God?
▷ ①Or know
12:25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
12:26 But ①regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’?
▷ ①Lit concerning the dead, that they rise
12:27 He is not the God ①of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
▷ ①Or of corpses
12:28 One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ①foremost of all?”
▷ ①Or first
12:29 Jesus answered, “The ①foremost is, ‘HEAR, ISRAEL! THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE;
▷ ①Or first
12:30 AND 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.’
12:31 The second is this: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
12:32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES HIM;
12:33 and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.
12:35 And Jesus responded and began saying, as He taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the ①Christ is the son of David?
▷ ①I.e., Messiah
12:36 David himself said ①in the Holy Spirit,
‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET.” ’
▷ ①Or by
12:37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd ①enjoyed listening to Him.
▷ ①Lit was gladly hearing Him
12:38 And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like personal greetings in the marketplaces,
12:39 and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets,
12:40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”
12:41 And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and began watching how the ①people were putting ②money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts.
▷ ①Lit crowd was ②I.e., copper coins
12:42 And a poor widow came and put in two ①lepta coins, which amount to a ②quadrans.
▷ ①The smallest Greek copper coin, about 1/128 of a laborer’s daily wage ②A small Roman copper coin, worth about 1/64 of a laborer’s daily wage
12:43 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;
▷ ①Lit those who were putting in
12:44 for they all put in out of their ①surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ②all she had to live on.”
▷ ①Or abundance ②Lit her whole livelihood