Mark 11:27-12:12

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Messiah’s Authority Challenged

²⁷ They^(A) came again to Jerusalem.^(B) As He was walking in the temple complex,^(C) the chief priests, the scribes,^(D) and the elders^(E) came ²⁸ and asked Him, “By what authority^(F) are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;^(G) then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ Was John’s baptism^(H) from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹ They began to argue among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe^(I) him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was a genuine prophet.^{(J) 33} So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12 Then^(K) He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard,^(L) put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ² At harvest time he sent^(M) a slave^(N) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^(O) of the vineyard from the farmers. ³ But they took him, beat^(P) him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{(Q) 4} Again he sent another slave to them, and they^[a] hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.^{[b] 5} Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.

⁶ “He still had one to send, a beloved^(R) son. Finally^(S) he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But those tenant farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore, what will the owner^[c](T) of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this Scripture:^(U)

¹² Because they knew He had said this parable against them, they were looking for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left Him and went away.