Mark 12:28–44; Matthew 22:34–23:39; Luke 20:41–21:4

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Mark 12:28–44

The Great Commandment

28 uAnd 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, vHear, O Israel: The Lord our God, wthe 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 xThe second is this: yYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment zgreater than these. 32 And the scribe said to him, You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that whe is one, and athere is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all bthe understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, cis much more than all dwhole 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. eAnd after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 fAnd as gJesus taught in the temple, he said, How can the scribes say that hthe Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, iin the Holy Spirit, declared,

jThe Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies kunder your feet.

37 David himself calls him Lord. So lhow is he his son? And the great throng mheard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 nAnd 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 othe places of honor at feasts, 40 pwho devour widows’ houses and qfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.

The Widow’s Offering

41 rAnd he sat down opposite sthe treasury and watched the people tputting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two usmall copper coins, which make a penny.1 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, Truly, I say to you, vthis 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 wpoverty has put in everything she had, all xshe had to live on.


Matthew 22:34–23:39

The Great Commandment

34 bBut when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced cthe Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 dAnd one of them, ea lawyer, asked him a question fto test him. 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? 37 And he said to him, gYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And ha second is like it: iYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 jOn these two commandments depend kall the Law and the Prophets.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 lNow while the Pharisees mwere gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, What do you think about nthe Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, nThe son of David. 43 He said to them, How is it then that David, oin the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44  pThe Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet?

45 If then David calls him Lord, qhow is he his son? 46 rAnd no one was able to answer him a word, snor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

Then Jesus tsaid to the crowds and to his disciples, uThe scribes and the Pharisees vsit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, wbut not the works they do. xFor they preach, but do not practice. yThey tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,1 and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. tThey do all their deeds zto be seen by others. For they make atheir phylacteries broad and btheir fringes long, and they clove the place of honor at feasts and dthe best seats in the synagogues and dgreetings in ethe marketplaces and being called frabbi2 by others. gBut you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are hall brothers.3 iAnd call no man your father on earth, for jyou have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, kthe Christ. 11 lThe greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 mWhoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 But woe nto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you oshut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you pneither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.4 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single qproselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a rchild of shell5 as yourselves.

16 Woe to tyou, ublind guides, who say, vIf anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or wthe temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by xthe gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ythe altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by zhim who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by aheaven swears by bthe throne of God and by chim who sits upon it.

23 dWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For eyou tithe mint and dill and fcumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: gjustice and mercy and faithfulness. hThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ia camel!

25 jWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For kyou clean the outside of lthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of mgreed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of lthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27 nWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like owhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and pall uncleanness. 28 So you also qoutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of rhypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 sWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are tsons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 uFill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, vyou brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to whell? 34 xTherefore yI send you zprophets and wise men and ascribes, bsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and bsome you will cflog in your synagogues and dpersecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all ethe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous fAbel to the blood of gZechariah the son of Barachiah,6 whom you murdered between hthe sanctuary and ithe altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, jall these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 kO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that lkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have mgathered nyour children together oas a hen gathers her brood punder her wings, and qyou were not willing! 38 See, ryour house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, sBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.


Luke 20:41–21:4

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 pBut he said to them, How can they say that qthe Christ is qDavid’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

rThe Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

43  until I make your enemies syour footstool.

44 David thus calls him Lord, so thow is he his son?

Beware of the Scribes

45 uAnd in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and vthe places of honor at feasts, 47 wwho devour widows’ houses and xfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.

The Widow’s Offering

yJesus1 looked up and saw the rich zputting their gifts into athe offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two bsmall copper coins.2 And he said, Truly, I tell you, cthis poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her dpoverty put in all eshe had to live on.