Mark 12:1-27; 1 Kings 3; Hosea 6; Hosea 7:1-2

Mark 12:1-27

1 Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.

2 At harvest time he sent a slave to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the farmers.

3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

4 Again he sent another slave to them, and they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.

5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. [He] also [sent] many others; they beat some and they killed some.

6 "He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

7 "But those tenant farmers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 "Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.

10 Haven't you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

11 This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes ?"

12 Because they knew He had said this parable against them, they were looking for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left Him and went away.

13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Him to trap Him by what He said.

14 When they came, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know You are truthful and defer to no one, for You don't show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

15 Should we pay, or should we not pay?" But knowing their hypocrisy, He said to them, "Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at."

16 So they brought one. "Whose image and inscription is this?" He asked them. "Caesar's," they said.

17 Then Jesus told them, "Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at Him.

18 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and questioned Him:

19 "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies , leaves his wife behind, and leaves no child, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.

20 There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying, left no offspring.

21 The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.

22 The seven also left no offspring. Last of all, the woman died too.

23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her?"

24 Jesus told them, "Are you not deceived because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God?

25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven.

26 Now concerning the dead being raised-haven't you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him: 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 badly deceived."

1 Kings 3

1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord's temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem.

2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord's name had not been built.

3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask. What should I give you?"

6 And Solomon replied, "You have shown great and faithful love to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.

7 "Lord my God, You have now made Your servant king in my father David's place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership.

8 Your servant is among Your people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted.

9 So give Your servant an obedient heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"

10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this.

11 So God said to him, "Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to understand justice,

12 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.

13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no man in any kingdom will be your equal during your entire life.

14 If you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments just as your father David did, I will give you a long life."

15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

17 One woman said, "Please my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house.

18 On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else was with us in the house; just the two of us were there.

19 During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him.

20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him at her breast, and she put her dead son in my arms.

21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to."

22 "No," the other woman said. "My son is the living one; your son is the dead one." The first woman said, "No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one." So they argued before the king.

23 The king replied, "This woman says, 'This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,' but that woman says, 'No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.' "

24 The king continued, "Bring me a sword." So they brought the sword to the king.

25 Solomon said, "Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other."

26 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. "My lord, give her the living baby," she said, "but please don't have him killed!" But the other one said, "He will not be mine or yours. Cut [him in two]!"

27 The king responded, "Give the living baby to the first woman, and don't kill him. She is his mother."

28 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God's wisdom was in him to carry out justice.

Hosea 6

1 Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn [us], and He will heal us; He has wounded [us], and He will bind up our wounds.

2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence.

3 Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.

4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes.

5 This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning.

6 For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me.

8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with bloody footprints.

9 Like robbers who wait in ambush for someone, a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem. They commit atrocities.

10 I have seen something horrible in the house of Israel: Ephraim's promiscuity is there; Israel is defiled.

11 A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah. When I return My people from captivity,

Hosea 7:1-2

1 when I heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria will be exposed. For they practice fraud; a thief breaks in; a gang pillages outside.

2 But they never consider that I remember all their evil. Now their sins are all around them; they are right in front of My face.