Mark 6–7

REJECTION AT NAZARETH

6He^aq left there and came to his hometown,^ar and his disciples^as followed him. ²When the Sabbath^at came, he began to teach^au in the synagogue,^av and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom^aw that has been given to him, and how are these miracles^ax performed by his hands? ³Isn’t this the carpenter,^ay the son of Mary,^az and the brother of James,^ba Joses, Judas,^bb and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended^bc by him.

⁴Jesus said to them, “A prophet^bd is not without honor^be except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” ⁵He was not able to do a miracle^bf there, except that he laid his hands on^bg a few sick^bh people and healed^bi them. ⁶And he was amazed^bj at their unbelief.^bk He was going around the villages teaching.^bl

COMMISSIONING THE TWELVE

⁷He^bm summoned^bn the Twelve^bo and began to send^bp them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean^bq spirits.^{br 8}He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff—no bread, no traveling bag,^bs no money in their belts, ⁹but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt.^{bt 10}He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹If any place does not welcome^a you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet^b as a testimony^c against them.”^{A 12}So they went out and preached^d that people should repent.^{e 13}They drove out many demons,^f anointed^g many sick^h people with oilⁱ and healed them.^j

JOHN THE BAPTIST BEHEADED

¹⁴King^k Herod^l heard about it, because Jesus’s name^m had become well known. Some^B said, “John the Baptistⁿ has been raised from the dead,^o and that’s why miraculous powers^p are at work^q in him.” ¹⁵But others said, “He’s Elijah.”^r Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago.”^s

¹⁶When Herod^t heard of it, he said, “John,^u the one I beheaded, has been raised!”^v

¹⁷For^w Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain^x him in prison on account of Herodias,^y his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.^{z 18}John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful^aa for you to have your brother’s wife.”^{ab 19}So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill^ac him. But she could not, ²⁰because Herod feared^ad John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous^ae and holy^af man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed,^Cag and yet he liked to listen to him.^ah

²¹An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet^ai for his nobles,^aj military commanders,^ak and the leading men of Galilee.^{al 22}When Herodias’s own daughter^D came in and danced,^am she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³He promised her with an^an oath:^ao “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”^ap

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”

“John the Baptist’s^aq head,” she said.

²⁵At once she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s^ar head on a platter^as immediately.” ²⁶Although the king was deeply distressed,^at because of his oaths^au and the guests^A he did not want to refuse^av her. ²⁷The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. So he went and beheaded him in prison, ²⁸brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When John’s disciples^aw heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.^ax

FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND

³⁰The^ay apostles^az gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. ³¹He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

³²So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, ³³but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.^B

³⁴When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion^ba on them, because they were like sheep^bb without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

³⁵When it grew late, his disciples^bc approached him and said, “This place is deserted,^bd and it is already late. ³⁶Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷“You give them something to eat,” he responded.

They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii^C worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²Everyone ate and was satisfied.^{be 43}They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

WALKING ON THE WATER

⁴⁵Immediately^bf he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida,^bg while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain^a to pray.^{b 47}Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸He saw them straining^c at the oars,^A because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning^B he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. ⁴⁹When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost^d and cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.^e Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage!^f It is I.^g Don’t be afraid.”^{h 51}Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, ⁵²because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.ⁱ

MIRACULOUS HEALINGS

⁵³When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret^j and anchored there.

⁵⁴As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. ⁵⁵They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick^k on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end^l of his robe.^m And everyone who touched it was healed.

THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS

7Theⁿ Pharisees^o and some of the scribes^p who had come from Jerusalem^q gathered around him. ²They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean^r—that is, unwashed—hands. ³(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴When they come from the marketplace,^s they do not eat unless they have washed.^t And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.^cu) ⁵So the Pharisees^v and the scribes^w asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live^D according to the tradition of the elders,^x instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean^E hands?”

⁶He answered them, “Isaiah^y prophesied^z correctly about you hypocrites,^aa as it is written:^ab

This people honors^ac me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me.

⁷They worship me in vain,

teaching^ad as doctrines^ae human commands.^Faf

⁸Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.”^{G 9}He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up^H your tradition! ¹⁰For Moses^ag said: Honor your father and your mother;^Iah and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.^{Jai 11}But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit^aj you might have received from me is corban’ ” (that is, an offering^ak devoted to God), ¹²“you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³You nullify the word of God^al by your tradition that you have handed^am down. And you do many other similar things.”

¹⁴Summoning^an the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:^{ao 15}Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

¹⁷When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach^ap and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean^Kaq). ²⁰And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,^ar thefts, murders,^{as 22}adulteries,^at greed,^au evil actions, deceit,^av self-indulgence,^aw envy,^B slander,^ax pride,^ay and foolishness.^{az 23}All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

A GENTILE MOTHER’S FAITH

²⁴He got up and departed from^ba there to the region of Tyre.^Cbb He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. ²⁵Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit^a came and fell at his feet.^{b 26}The woman was a Gentile,^Dc a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon^d out of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”^e

²⁸But she replied to him, “Lord,^f even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰When she went back to her…