Mark 12:14-16

Expanded Bible

¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are ·an honest man [true; honest; sincere]. You are not ·afraid of [concerned about] what other people think about you, because you ·pay no attention to who they are [play no favorites; are impartial; aren’t swayed by appearances]. And you teach ·the truth [with sincerity/honesty] about God’s way. Tell us: Is it ·right [permissible; lawful] to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay them, or not?” [^CSaying “yes” would anger Jews who hated Roman rule; saying “no” could result in being charged with insurrection.]

But knowing ·what these men were really trying to do [^Ltheir hypocrisy], Jesus said to them, “Why are you ·trying to trap [testing] me? Bring me a ·coin [^Ldenarius; ^Ca Roman coin worth a day’s wages] to look at.” ¹⁶ They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose ·image [likeness; portrait] and ·name [inscription] are on the coin?”

They answered, “Caesar’s.” [^CIronically, the religious leaders carry coins bearing the idolatrous image of Caesar.]