The AI Bible

Mark 12

Edition 0.1

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1Then he began speaking to them in parables. “There was a man who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit under the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. 2At harvest time he sent the tenants a servant to collect the owner’s share of the vineyard’s fruit from them.a 3But they seized him, beat him, and sent him back empty-handed. 4Again he sent them another servant. That one they struck on the head and treated shamefully.b 5He sent yet another, and that one they killed. He sent many others as well; some they beat, and others they killed. 6He still had one left, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7But those tenants said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and then the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they seized him and killed him, then threw him out of the vineyard. 9What will the vineyard’s owner do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.c 10Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;d 11this came from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?” 12The leaders looked for a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowd, for they realized that he had told the parable against them. Then they left him and went away.

13Then they sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to trap him with words. 14They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and are not swayed by anyone, for you do not judge people by outward appearance. Instead, you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay the head tax to Caesar, or not? Should we pay it, or should we not?"e 15But Jesus recognized their hypocrisy and said to them, "Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at it." 16They brought one, and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription are these?" They answered, "Caesar's." 17Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God." They were utterly amazed at him.f

18Then some Sadducees, who hold that there is no resurrection, came up to Jesus and put a question to him: 19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the surviving brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.g 20There were seven brothers. The first of them married, and when he died he left no offspring. 21Then the second married the widow, and he died without leaving offspring. The third did the same. 22None of the seven left any offspring. Last of all, the woman died too.h

23At the resurrection, when they rise, which of them will have her as his wife? For all seven had married her.” 24Jesus said to them, “Are you not wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they do not marry, and they are not given in marriage. Rather, they are like angels in heaven. 26As for the dead being raised, have you not read, in the book of Moses, the passage about the bush, where God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?i 27He is the God not of the dead but of the living. How badly wrong you are!”

28Then one of the scribes came up and heard them debating. Seeing that Jesus had answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is foremost of all?” 29Jesus answered, “This is the foremost: ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30And 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.’j 31This is the second: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Greater than these, there is no other commandment.”k

32The scribe said to him, “Well said, Teacher! You have spoken the truth: God is one, and besides him there is no other. 33To love him with all one’s heart, with all one’s understanding, and with all one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself—this is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”l 34Seeing that the scribe had answered wisely, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions. 35As Jesus taught in the temple courts, he spoke up and said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?

36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Be seated at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.”’m 37David himself calls him Lord. How then is he David’s son?” The large crowd listened to him gladly. 38As Jesus was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the scribes. They love to walk about in flowing robes, to be greeted in the marketplaces, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and seats of honor at dinners. 40They devour widows’ houses and pray at great length for show. These men will receive a more severe condemnation.”

41Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched how the crowd was putting money into it. Many rich people were putting in a great deal.n 42Then a poor widow came and put in two tiny coins, which together make one small Roman coin.o 43He called his disciples over and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury. 44For all of them put in from their surplus, but she, from her need, put in everything she had—her whole livelihood.”

Notes

  1. 2aGreek doulos, here and in verse 4, means a slave. In the parable he acts as the owner's agent, so it is rendered servant.
  2. 4bThe Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read: they stoned him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away dishonoured.
  3. 9c“Owner” translates Greek kyrios, the same word rendered “Lord” in verse 11.
  4. 10dGreek: the head of the corner, the wording of Psalm 118:22.
  5. 14eGreek: you do not look at the face of people, an idiom for judging someone by outward standing.
  6. 17fOr Pay. The verb can mean give back or pay what is due; Abbott-Smith lists this verse under paying what is due. It differs from the verb for paying in verse 14.
  7. 19gGreek: raise up seed. The law that a man should marry his dead brother’s widow to carry on his line is in Deuteronomy 25:5–10; compare Genesis 38:8.
  8. 22hThe Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read: The seven took her and left no offspring.
  9. 26iGreek: at the bush. Jesus names the passage by its subject: Exodus 3, where God speaks to Moses from a burning bush.
  10. 30jAfter “strength” the Byzantine text (Robinson-Pierpont) and the Textus Receptus add, “This is the foremost commandment.”
  11. 31kThe Byzantine text (Robinson-Pierpont) and the Textus Receptus read “The second is like it,” adding a word that likens the second commandment to the foremost.
  12. 33lThe Byzantine text (Robinson-Pierpont) and the Textus Receptus add “and with all one’s soul” after “understanding.”
  13. 36mThe Byzantine text (Robinson-Pierpont) and the Textus Receptus read “a footstool for your feet” instead of “under your feet.”
  14. 41nThe treasury here probably means the offering chests in the temple, into which people dropped their gifts (Abbott-Smith; Gill).
  15. 42oGreek two lepta, which make a kodrantes (Latin quadrans). Abbott-Smith values the lepton at one-eighth of an as and the quadrans at a quarter of an as; Clarke identifies the lepton with the prutah, the smallest Jewish coin.