Mark 12 – NIRV & CCB

New International Reader’s Version

Mark 12:1-44

The Story of the Renters

1Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly. 5The man sent still another servant. The renters killed him. The man sent many others. The renters beat up some of them. They killed the others.

6“The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’

7“But the renters said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.

9“What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those renters. He will give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says,

“ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept

has become the most important stone of all.

11The Lord has done it.

It is wonderful in our eyes’?” (Psalm 118:22,23)

12Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?

13Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of honor. You don’t let other people tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin. He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”

They were amazed at him.

Marriage When the Dead Rise

18The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. 20There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. 21The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. 22In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”

24Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. 25When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the Book of Moses the story of the burning bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) 27He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!”

The Most Important Commandment

28One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

29Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) 31And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”

32“You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

35Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your control.” ’ (Psalm 110:1)

37David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

38As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They like to be greeted with respect in the market. 39They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. 40They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish these men very much.”

The Widow’s Offering

41Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies.

43Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”

Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)

马可福音 12:1-44

凶狠的佃户

1耶稣用比喻对他们说:“有人开辟了一个葡萄园,在四周筑起篱笆,又在园中挖了一个榨酒池,建了一座瞭望台,然后把葡萄园租给佃户,就出远门了。

2“到葡萄成熟时,园主派一个奴仆去收取他该得的一份。 3那些佃户却捉住那个奴仆,打了他一顿,使他空手而归。

4“园主又差另一个奴仆去。这一次,佃户不但侮辱他,还把他打得头破血流。 5园主再派一个奴仆前往,他们却把他杀掉了。园主后来派去的人不是挨打,就是被杀。 6最后只剩下园主的爱子,园主就派他去,以为那些佃户会尊重他的儿子。 7这班佃户却彼此商量说,‘这个就是园主的继承人。来吧!我们杀掉他,产业就归我们了。’

8“于是他们抓住他,杀了他,把他抛到葡萄园外。 9那么,园主会采取什么行动呢?他必定会来杀掉这些佃户,把葡萄园转给别人。 10圣经上说,

“‘工匠丢弃的石头已成了房角石。

11这是主的作为,

在我们看来奇妙莫测。’

你们没有读过这经文吗?”

12他们听出这比喻是针对他们说的,就想逮捕耶稣,但又害怕百姓,只好先离开了。

纳税给凯撒的问题

13后来,他们派了几个法利赛人和希律党人到耶稣那里,企图利用祂所说的话设计陷害祂。

14他们上前对耶稣说:“老师,我们知道你诚实无伪,不看人的情面,因为你不以貌取人,而是按真理传上帝的道。那么,向凯撒纳税对不对呢? 15我们该不该纳呢?”耶稣看破他们的阴谋,就说:“你们为什么试探我呢?拿一个银币来给我看。”

16他们就拿来一个银币,耶稣问他们:“上面刻的是谁的像和名号?”

他们说:“凯撒的。”

17耶稣说:“属于凯撒的东西应该给凯撒,属于上帝的东西应该给上帝。”

他们听了这话,都很惊奇。

论复活

18撒都该人向来不相信有复活的事,他们来问耶稣: 19“老师,摩西为我们写下律例,如果一个人死了,遗下妻子,又没有儿女,他的兄弟就当娶嫂嫂,替哥哥传宗接代。 20有弟兄七人,老大结了婚,没有孩子就死了。 21二弟把大嫂娶过来,也没有生孩子就死了,三弟也是一样, 22七个人都没有留下孩子。最后,那女人也死了。 23那么,到复活的时候,她将是谁的妻子呢?因为七个人都娶过她。”

24耶稣说:“你们弄错了,因为你们不明白圣经,也不知道上帝的能力。 25死人复活之后,将不娶也不嫁,就像天上的天使一样。 26关于死人复活的事,你们没有读过摩西书有关火中荆棘的记载吗?上帝对摩西说,‘我是亚伯拉罕的上帝,以撒的上帝,雅各的上帝。’ 27上帝不是死人的上帝,而是活人的上帝。你们大错了!”

最大的诫命

28有一位律法教师听到他们的辩论,觉得耶稣的回答很精彩,就走过去问道:“诫命中哪一条最重要呢?”

29耶稣回答道:“最重要的诫命是,‘听啊,以色列!主——我们的上帝是独一的主。 30你要全心、全情、全意、全力爱主——你的上帝’; 31其次就是‘要爱邻如己’。再也没有任何诫命比这两条更重要了。”

32那位律法教师说:“老师,你说的对,上帝只有一位,除祂以外,别无他神。 33我们要全心、全意、全力爱祂,又要爱邻如己。这样做比献什么祭都好。”

34耶稣见他答得很有智慧,就告诉他:“你离上帝的国不远了。”此后,没人再敢问耶稣问题了。

基督的身份

35耶稣在圣殿里教导的时候,问道:“律法教师为什么说基督是大卫的后裔呢? 36大卫自己曾经受圣灵的感动,说,

“‘主对我主说,

你坐在我的右边,

等我使你的仇敌伏在你脚下。’

37既然大卫自己称基督为主,基督又怎能是大卫的后裔呢?”百姓听得津津有味。 38耶稣又教导他们,说:“你们要提防律法教师,他们爱穿着长袍招摇过市,喜欢人们在大街上问候他们, 39又喜欢会堂里的上座和宴席中的首位。 40他们侵吞寡妇的财产,还假意做冗长的祷告。这种人必受到更严厉的惩罚。”

穷寡妇的奉献

41然后,耶稣走到圣殿的奉献箱对面坐下,看大家怎样奉献。很多财主奉献了大量的钱。 42后来一个穷寡妇来了,投进了相当于一文钱的两个小铜钱。 43耶稣叫门徒来,说:“我实在告诉你们,这位穷寡妇比其他人奉献的都多, 44因为他们不过奉献了自己剩余的,但这穷寡妇却奉献了她赖以为生的。”