Mark 11-12

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King^(A)

11 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. They came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of his followers to do something. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a young donkey that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkey, tell them, ‘The Master needs it. He will send it back soon.’”

⁴ The followers went into the town. They found a young donkey tied in the street near the door of a house, and they untied it. ⁵ Some people were standing there and saw this. They asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that donkey?” ⁶ The followers answered the way Jesus told them, and the people let them take the donkey.

⁷ The followers brought the donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on it, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Others cut branches in the fields and spread the branches on the road. ⁹ Some of them were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. Everyone shouted,

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the Temple. He looked at everything in the Temple area, but it was already late. So he went to Bethany with the twelve apostles.

Jesus Says a Fig Tree Will Die^(C)

¹² The next day, Jesus was leaving Bethany. He was hungry. ¹³ He saw a fig tree with leaves. So he went to the tree to see if it had any figs growing on it. But he found no figs on the tree. There were only leaves, because it was not the right time for figs to grow. ¹⁴ So Jesus said to the tree, “People will never eat fruit from you again.” His followers heard him say this.

Jesus Goes to the Temple^(D)

¹⁵ When Jesus and his followers came to Jerusalem, they entered the Temple area. Jesus began driving out the people who were buying and selling things there. He turned over the tables that belonged to those who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶ He refused to allow anyone to carry things through the Temple area. ¹⁷ Then Jesus began teaching the people and said, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’^[b] But you have changed it into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’^[c]”

¹⁸ When the leading priests and the teachers of the law heard what Jesus said, they began trying to find a way to kill him. They were afraid of him because all the people were amazed at his teaching. ¹⁹ That night Jesus and his followers left the city.

Jesus Shows the Power of Faith^(E)

²⁰ The next morning Jesus was walking with his followers. They saw the fig tree that he spoke to the day before. The tree was dry and dead, even the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! Yesterday, you told that fig tree to die. Now it is dry and dead!”

²² Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. ²³ The truth is, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, then God will do it for you. ²⁴ So I tell you to ask for what you want in prayer. And if you believe that you have received those things, then they will be yours. ²⁵ When you are praying and you remember that you are angry with another person about something, forgive that person. Forgive them so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins.” ^26 [d]

Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority^(F)

²⁷ Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in the Temple area. The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders came to him. ²⁸ They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question. You answer my question. Then I will tell you whose authority I use to do these things. ³⁰ Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God or was it only from other people? Answer me.”

³¹ These Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ ³² But we can’t say that John’s baptism was from someone else.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because the people believed that John was a prophet.)

³³ So the leaders answered Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”

Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.”

God Sends His Son^(G)

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^(I)

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^(J)

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.^{[e] 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,^[f] it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[g] 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?^(K)

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.’^{[h] 31} The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor^[i] the same as you love yourself.’^[j] 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?^(L)

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^(N)

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^(O)

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple collection box^[l] 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.”