Mark 12:29-44 ▼

29 Jesus answered, |The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,

30 and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

31 The second is this: 'You must love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these.|

32 Then the scribe told him, |Well said, Teacher! You have told the truth that 'God is one, and there is no other besides him.'

33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.|

34 When Jesus saw how wisely the man answered, he told him, |You are not far from the kingdom of God.| After that, no one dared to ask him another question.

35 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, |How can the scribes say that the Messiah is David's son?

36 David himself said by the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord told my Lord, |Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.|'

37 David himself calls him 'Lord,' so how can he be his son?| And the large crowd kept listening to him with delight.

38 As he taught, he said, |Beware of the scribes! They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted in the marketplaces,

39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

40 They devour widows' houses and say long prayers to cover it up. They will receive greater condemnation!|

41 As Jesus sat facing the offering box, he watched how the crowd was dropping their money into it. Many rich people were dropping in large amounts.

42 Then a destitute widow came and dropped in two small copper coins, worth about a cent.

43 He called his disciples and told them, |I tell all of you with certainty, this destitute widow has dropped in more than everyone who is contributing to the offering box,

44 because all of them contributed out of their surplus, but out of her poverty she has given everything she had to live on.|