Sunday, October 25, 2026

Mark 12 in the Unitarian Standard Version Bible


Introducing the Unitarian Standard Version Bible

Mark 12

1 And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to tenant farmers, and went into another country. 2 And at the season he sent to the tenant farmers a servant, that he might receive from the tenant farmers of the fruits of the vineyard. 3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully. 5 And he sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those tenant farmers said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the tenant farmers, and will give the vineyard unto others.

10 Have ye not read even this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; 11 This was from Jehovah(a), And it is marvellous in our eyes?

12 And they sought to lay hold on him; and they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spake the parable against them: and they left him, and went away.

13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not the person of men(b), but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why make ye trial of me? bring me a denarius, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar`s. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar`s(c), and unto God the things that are God`s. And they marvelled greatly at him.

18 And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they began to question him, saying, 19 Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man`s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed(d) unto his brother. 20 There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; 21 and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: 22 and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection [when they rise] whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven. 26 But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in [the place concerning] the Bush(e), how God spake unto him, saying, 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: ye do greatly err.

28 And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all? 29 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone(f): 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. 31 The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is one; and there is none other but he: 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw him, that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

35 And Jesus answered and said, as he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself said in the holy spirit,

Jehovah(g) said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thy enemies under thy feet.

37 David himself calleth him Lord; and how is he his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

38 And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and [to have] salutations in the marketplaces, 39 and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts: 40 they that devour widows` houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; these shall receive greater condemnation.

41 And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a penny(h). 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury: 44 for they all did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, [even] all her living(i).

Footnotes

(a) From Psalms 118:22, 23. See also Heinfetter & NWT.
(b) TCNT: "Teacher, we know that you are an honest man, and are not afraid of any one, for you pay no regard to a man's position, but teach the Way of God honestly."
(c)
Jesus’s injunction to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s" is a tacit endorsement of property rights."To say certain things 'are' anyone’s assumes ownership." Lawrence W. Reed, Was Jesus a Socialist?"
(d) Moffatt: "if a man's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother is to take the woman and raise offspring for his brother."
(e) Exodus 3:2-6
(f) Deuteronomy 6:4. "Observe how solemn is this affirmation of the old doctrine; it is a reƫnactment of the great central law of the Jewish religion, without one word of amendment or qualification. Can we ask any thing more? But we have more, if possible. If this were all, it might perhaps be argued that the word 'God' includes the idea of tri-personality in the Father, Son, and Spirit; but the Saviour has forbidden such a construction by teaching us, that the God of whom he spoke is the Father only. We once more refer to the words of our text, words of prayer to the Father: 'This is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' He speaks of himself, the Son, as a separate being, dependent on the Father. 'Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.' Again, in his prediction of his heavenly exaltation he says, 'Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.' So when in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed to the Father, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' And on the cross, in the time of his last agony, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' and yet once more, after his resurrection, he said to his disciples, 'I ascend unto my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God.' Thus, through his whole ministry, he used the same uniform and familiar language. I ask you again to remember that this language was addressed to those who had no conception of any other doctrine than the absolute Unity of God. How must they have understood it? I think, just as we understand it now, when we say, "To us there is but one God, even the Father." William G. Eliot Jr., The Unity of God 1853
(g)
Jehovah is placed here instead of "the Lord." I cannot imagine anyone in the 1st century actually saying "lord" here instead of the Divine Name. The usual English translation of "The Lord said to my Lord" appears to blur the distinction being made at Ps 110:1. "By the Lord that said, is meant 'Jehovah' the Father."~John Gill; "Jehovah said unto Adonai. Quoted from Psa_110:1."~Bullinger.
At Ps 110:1 the word for "lord" in Hebrew is Adoni, a word never used for "God". Adoni is used for humans and angels. The title "Adonai" is used for God. The difference seems small to the lay reader, but it is significant.
(h) ED, Darby, Noyes, Julia Smith and the RV uses "farthing" here.
(i) "For every one else put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, put in all she had--everything that she had to live on." TCNT

Can any theologian throughout all Christendom to-day give us any intelligible account of its origin and primary meaning? Not one. For that we must go to mythology, which was earlier than our theology, and which alone enables us to explain its primitive mysteries. ~Gerald Massey
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/08/gerald-massey-on-trinity-doctrine.html
 

Mark 12 in the Unitarian Standard Version Bible

Introducing the Unitarian Standard Version Bible References Used in the Unitarian Standard Version Read Matthew 1 and 2 here.. . Read Matthe...