Mark 12-13

Easy-to-Read Version

God Sends His Son^(A)

12 Jesus used stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip.

² “Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³ But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing. ⁴ Then the man sent another servant to the farmers. They hit this servant on the head, showing no respect for him. ⁵ So the man sent another servant. The farmers killed this servant. The man sent many other servants to the farmers. The farmers beat some of them and killed the others.

⁶ “The man had only one person left to send to the farmers. It was his son. He loved his son, but he decided to send him. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son, and this vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁹ “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go and kill those farmers. Then he will lease the land to others. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

¹² When these Jewish leaders heard this story, they knew it was about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of what the crowd would do. So they left him and went away.

The Jewish Leaders Try to Trick Jesus^(C)

¹³ Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and some men from the group called Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to catch him saying something wrong. ¹⁴ They went to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what others think about you. All people are the same to you. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”

¹⁵ But Jesus knew that these men were really trying to trick him. He said, “Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? Bring me a silver coin. Let me see it.” ¹⁶ They gave Jesus a coin and he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on it?” They answered, “It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(D)

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no one will rise from death.) They asked him a question: ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother.^{[a] 20} There were seven brothers. The first brother married but died. He had no children. ²¹ So the second brother married the woman. But he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. ²² All seven brothers married the woman and died. None of the brothers had any children with her. And she was the last to die. ²³ But all seven brothers had married her. So at the time when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “How could you be so wrong? It’s because you don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know anything about God’s power. ²⁵ When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. All people will be like angels in heaven. ²⁶ Surely you have read what God said about people rising from death. In the book where Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[b] it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 27} So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. You Sadducees are so wrong!”

Which Command Is the Most Important?^(E)

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came to Jesus. He heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. He saw that Jesus gave good answers to their questions. So he asked him, “Which of the commands is the most important?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘People of Israel, listen! The Lord our God is the only Lord. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’^{[d] 31} The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor^[e] the same as you love yourself.’^[f] These two commands are the most important.”

³² The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You are right in saying that God is the only Lord and that there is no other God. ³³ And you must love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength. And you must love others the same as you love yourself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”

³⁴ Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely. So he said to him, “You are close to God’s kingdom.” And after that time, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

Is the Messiah David’s Son or David’s Lord?^(F)

³⁵ Jesus was teaching in the Temple area. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ With the help of the Holy Spirit, David himself says,

³⁷ David himself calls the Messiah ‘Lord.’ So how can the Messiah be David’s son?” Many people listened to Jesus and were very pleased.

Jesus Criticizes the Teachers of the Law^(H)

³⁸ Jesus continued teaching. He said, “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. ³⁹ They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ But they cheat widows and take their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish them very much.”

True Giving^(I)

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple collection box^[h] and watched as people put money into it. Many rich people put in a lot of money. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth less than a penny.

⁴³ Jesus called his followers to him and said, “This poor widow put in only two small coins. But the truth is, she gave more than all those rich people. ⁴⁴ They have plenty, and they gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had. It was money she needed to live on.”

Jesus Warns About the Future^(J)

13 Jesus was leaving the Temple area. One of his followers said to him, “Teacher, look how big those stones are! What beautiful buildings!”

² Jesus said, “Do you see these great buildings? They will all be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

³ Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. He was alone with Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They could all see the Temple, and they said to Jesus, ⁴ “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will show us it is time for them to happen?”

⁵ Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Don’t let anyone fool you. ⁶ Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah,^[i]’ and they will fool many people. ⁷ You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁸ Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. These things are only the beginning of troubles, like the first pains of a woman giving birth.

⁹ “You must be careful! There are people who will arrest you and take you to be judged for being my followers. They will beat you in their synagogues. You will be forced to stand before kings and governors. You will tell them about me. ¹⁰ Before the end comes, the Good News must be told to all nations. ¹¹ Even when you are arrested and put on trial, don’t worry about what you will say. Say whatever God tells you at the time. It will not really be you speaking. It will be the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Brothers will turn against their own brothers and hand them over to be killed. Fathers will hand over their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and have them killed. ¹³ All people will hate you because you follow me. But those who remain faithful to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “You will see ‘the terrible thing that causes destruction.’^[j] You will see this thing standing in the place where it should not be.” (Reader, I trust you understand what this means.) “Everyone in Judea at that time should run away to the mountains. ¹⁵ They should run away without wasting time to stop for anything. If someone is on the roof of their house, they must not go down to take things out of the house. ¹⁶ If someone is in the field, they must not go back to get a coat.

¹⁷ “During that time it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have small babies. ¹⁸ Pray that these things will not happen in winter, ¹⁹ because those days will be full of trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning, when God made the world. And nothing that bad will ever happen again. ²⁰ But the Lord has decided to make that terrible time short. If it were not made short, no one could survive. But the Lord will make that time short to help the special people he has chosen.

²¹ “Someone might say to you at that time, ‘Look, there is the Messiah!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²² False messiahs and false prophets will come and do miracles and wonders,^[k] trying to fool the people God has chosen, if that is possible. ²³ So be careful. Now I have warned you about all this before it happens.

When Jesus, the Son of Man, Comes Again^(K)

²⁴ “During the days following that time of trouble,

²⁶ “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ He will send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the earth.

²⁸ “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is very near. ²⁹ In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time^[m] is very near, already present. ³⁰ I assure you that all these things will happen while some of the people of this time are still living. ³¹ The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but my words will last forever.

³² “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when that day or time will be. Only the Father knows. ³³ Be careful! Always be ready. You don’t know when that time will be.

³⁴ “It’s like a man who goes on a trip and leaves his house in the care of his servants. He gives each one a special job to do. He tells the servant guarding the door to always be ready. And this is what I am telling you now. ³⁵ You must always be ready. You don’t know when the owner of the house will come back. He might come in the afternoon, or at midnight, or in the early morning, or when the sun rises. ³⁶ If you are always ready, he will not find you sleeping, even if he comes back earlier than expected. ³⁷ I tell you this, and I say it to everyone: ‘Be ready!’”