Mark 8–10

FEEDING FOUR THOUSAND

8In^v those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called^w the disciples^x and said to them, ²“I have compassion^y on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way,^z and some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed^aa these people?”

⁵“How many loaves do you have?” he asked them.

“Seven,” they said. ⁶He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke^ab them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. ⁸They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹About four thousand were there. He dismissed them. ¹⁰And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND HEROD

¹¹The^ac Pharisees^ad came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign^ae from heaven^af to test^ag him. ¹²Sighing deeply in his spirit,^ah he said, “Why does this generation^ai demand a sign? Truly I tell you,^aj no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵Then^ak he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven^Aal of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”^{am 16}They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. ¹⁷Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?^{an 18}Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear?^Bao And do you not remember?^{ap 19}When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they told him.

²⁰“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”^aq

HEALING A BLIND MAN

²²They came to Bethsaida.^ar They brought a blind^as man to him and begged him to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting^at on his eyes and laying his hands on^au him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴He looked up and said, “I see people—they look like trees walking.”^av

²⁵Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Then he sent^a him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”^Cb

PETER’S CONFESSION OF THE MESSIAH

²⁷Jesus^c went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸They answered him, “John the Baptist;^d others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”^e

²⁹“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter^f answered him, “You are the Messiah.”^{g 30}And he strictly warned^h them to tell no one about him.

HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION PREDICTED

³¹Thenⁱ he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man^j to suffer many things and be rejected^k by the elders,^l chief priests, and scribes,^m be killed, and riseⁿ after three days.^{o 32}He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan!^p You are not thinking about God’s concerns^A but human concerns.”

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

³⁴Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself,^q take up his cross,^r and follow me.^{s 35}For whoever wants to save^t his life will lose it,^u but whoever loses^v his life^w because of me^x and the gospel^y will save it.^{z 36}For what does it benefit^aa someone to gain^ab the whole world^ac and yet lose^ad his life?^{ae 37}What can anyone give in exchange for his life?^{af 38}For whoever is ashamed^ag of me and my words^ah in this adulterous and sinful^ai generation,^aj the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory^ak of his Father^al with the holy^am angels.”^an

9Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you,^ao there are some standing here who will not taste death^ap until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”^aq

THE TRANSFIGURATION

²After^ar six days^as Jesus took Peter, James, and John^at and led them up a high mountain^au by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured^av in front of them, ³and his clothes^aw became dazzling—extremely white^ax as no launderer on earth could whiten^ay them. ⁴Elijah^az appeared to them with Moses,^ba and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,^bb it’s good^bc for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters:^bd one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—⁶because he did not know what to say,^be since they were terrified.^bf

⁷A cloud^bg appeared, overshadowing^bh them, and a voice^bi came from the cloud:^bj “This is my beloved^bk Son;^bl listen to him!”^bm

⁸Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹As^bn they were coming down the mountain,^bo he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen^bp until the Son of Man^bq had risen^br from the dead.^{bs 10}They kept this word^bt to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes^bu say that Elijah must come first?”^bv

¹²“Elijah does come first and restores^bw all things,”^bx he replied. “Why then is it written^by that the Son of Man must suffer^bz many things and be treated with contempt?^{ca 13}But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written^cb about him.”

THE POWER OF FAITH OVER A DEMON

¹⁴When^cc they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing^cd with them. ¹⁵When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. ¹⁶He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”

¹⁷Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher,^ce I brought my son to you. He has a spirit^cf that makes him unable to speak.^{cg 18}Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹He replied to them, “You unbelieving^ch generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹“How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father.

“From childhood,” he said. ²²“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy^a him. But if you can do anything, have compassion^b on us and help us.”

²³Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’?^A Everything is possible^c for the one who believes.”^d

²⁴Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked^e the unclean^f spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf^g spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him^B into terrible convulsions.^h The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him,ⁱ and he stood up.

²⁸After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”^Bj

THE SECOND PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH

³⁰Then^k they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.^{l 31}For he was teaching^m his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Manⁿ is going to be betrayed^C into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise^o three days later.”^{p 32}But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.^q

WHO IS THE GREATEST?

³³They^r came to Capernaum.^s When he was in the house,^t he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”^{u 34}But they were silent,^v because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.^{w 35}Sitting down, he called the Twelve^x and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”^{y 36}He took a child,^z had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes^A one little child such as this in my name^aa welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent^ab me.”^ac

IN HIS NAME

³⁸John^ad said to him, “Teacher,^ae we saw someone^B driving out demons^af in your name,^ag and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”^ah

³⁹“Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle^ai in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me. ⁴⁰For whoever is not against us is for us.^{aj 41}And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink^ak in my name, because you belong to Christ^al—truly I tell you,^am he will never lose his reward.^an

WARNINGS FROM JESUS

⁴²“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away^ao—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone^ap were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

⁴³“And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off.^aq It is better for you to enter life maimed^ar than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.^{as 45}And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame^at than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God^au with one eye than…