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Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
Mark 12:10 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner.
  • KJV And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:
  • BSB Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
  • ESV Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
  • NKJV Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
  • NASB Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘A stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief cornerstone;

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus cites Psalm 118: the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Overview

Quoting Psalm 118:22, Jesus identifies Himself as the rejected stone who becomes the foundation of God's new work. The 'builders'—the religious leaders—reject Him, yet God exalts Him as the cornerstone of His people. Christ's rejection leads, by God's design, to His vindication and supremacy.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Ps 118:22–23The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
  • Isa 28:16Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily.
  • 1 Pet 2:7–8For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,”
  • Luke 20:17–18But he looked at them, and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the chief cornerstone?’
  • Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?’
  • Acts 4:11–12He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’
  • Rom 9:33even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
  • Eph 2:20–22being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;
  • Mark 2:25He said to them, “Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry — he, and those who were with him?
  • Matt 21:16and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?’”
  • Matt 19:4He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
  • Matt 22:31But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,
  • Luke 6:3Jesus, answering them, said, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him;
  • Mark 13:14But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,
  • Matt 12:3But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him;
  • Mark 12:26But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 12:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 12:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.