Mar 12 | ESV | STEP | And he began to speak to them in parables . A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower , and leased it to tenants and went into another country .

1 ^aAnd he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^ba vineyard ^cand put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^dleased it to tenants and ^ewent into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant ^{▼▼Greek bondservant; also verse 4} to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 ^gAnd they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 ^hAgain ⁱhe sent to them another servant, and ^jthey struck him on the head and ^ktreated him shamefully. 5 ^lAnd he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, ^ma beloved son. ⁿFinally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ^o‘This is the heir. Come, ^plet us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and ^qthrew him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^rHe will ^scome and destroy the tenants and ^tgive the vineyard to others. 10 ^uHave you not read ^vthis Scripture:

^w“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ^{▼▼Greek the head of the corner}
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And ^ythey were seeking to arrest him ^zbut feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they ^aaleft him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 ^abAnd they sent to him some of ^acthe Pharisees and some of ^adthe Herodians, to ^aetrap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^afwe know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For ^agyou are not swayed by appearances, ^{▼▼Greek you do not look at people’s faces} but truly teach ^aithe way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^ajtaxes to ^akCaesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing ^altheir hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^amput me to the test? Bring me ^ana denarius ^{▼▼A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer} and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, ^ap“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

18 And ^aqSadducees came to him, ^arwho say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^asif a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man ^{▼▼Greek his brother} must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ^auyou know neither the Scriptures nor ^avthe power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^awmarry nor ^axare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, ^ayhave you not read in ^azthe book of Moses, in ^bathe passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^bb‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

28 ^bcAnd one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^bd‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^bethe Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 ^bfThe second is this: ^bg‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^bhgreater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^bihe is one, and ^bjthere is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all ^bkthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^blis much more than all ^bmwhole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^bnAnd after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 ^boAnd as ^bpJesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that ^bqthe Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, ^brin the Holy Spirit, declared,

^bs“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies ^btunder your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him Lord. So ^buhow is he his son?” And the great throng ^bvheard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 ^bwAnd in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and ^bxthe places of honor at feasts, 40 ^bywho devour widows’ houses and ^bzfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

41 ^caAnd he sat down opposite ^cbthe treasury and watched the people ^ccputting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two ^cdsmall copper coins, which make a penny. ^{▼▼Greek two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer)} 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^cfthis poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^cgpoverty has put in everything she had, all ^chshe had to live on.”