God and Caesar

13 Then(A) they sent some of the Pharisees(B) and the Herodians(C) to Jesus to trap him in his words.(D) 14 When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality(E) but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes(F) to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

15 But knowing their hypocrisy,(G) he said to them, “Why are you testing(H) me? Bring me a denarius[a](I) to look at.” 16 They brought a coin. “Whose image(J) and inscription(K) is this?” he asked them.

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”(L) And they were utterly amazed(M) at him.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:15 A denarius = one day’s wage

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 And they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him so that they could catch him unawares in a statement. 14 And when they[a] came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and you do not care what anyone thinks,[b] because you do not regard the opinion of people[c] but teach the way of God in truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” 15 But because he[d] knew their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at it!”[e] 16 So they brought one.[f] And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!” And they were utterly amazed at him.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 12:14 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
  2. Mark 12:14 Literally “it is not a care to you concerning anyone”
  3. Mark 12:14 Literally “because you do not look at the face of men”
  4. Mark 12:15 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“knew”) which is understood as causal
  5. Mark 12:15 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  6. Mark 12:16 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation