Mark 12:16

Plain English Version

The men gave Jesus a coin. He looked at it and said, “Who is this on this money? Whose picture is this? And whose name is this?” They said, “That is Caesar, the Roman government’s big boss.”

Cross References

Mark 12:15

Jesus knew that if he said, “Don’t pay that tax money,” then he will be in trouble with the Roman bosses, and if he said, “Pay that tax money,” then he will be in trouble with the Jewish people. They wanted to be free from the Roman bosses. So Jesus said, “Don’t try to trick me. Have you got some money? I want to look at a coin.”

Mark 12:17

Jesus said, “Well, you have to give Caesar and the Roman government whatever belongs to them, and you have to give God whatever belongs to him.” When they heard him say that they were all really surprised.

2 Timothy 2:19

But God gave us the true word that can’t ever change. It is like a solid slab of concrete that builders put a house on. And it is like they wrote some words in that concrete. It is like they wrote this, “God knows those people that belong to him,” And like they also wrote, “If anyone says that they belong to God, they have to stop doing bad things.” So God’s people have to live that way.