Mark 9–10

Chapter 9

The Transfiguration

¹And Jesus was saying to them, “^aTruly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

^2aSix days later, Jesus took with Him ^bPeter and ¹James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;

³and ^aHis garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

⁴Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “^aRabbi, it is good for us to be here; ^blet us make three ¹tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁶For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.

⁷Then a cloud ¹formed, overshadowing them, and ^aa voice came out of the cloud, “^bThis is My beloved Son, ²listen to Him!”

⁸All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

^9aAs they were coming down from the mountain, He ^bgave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, ¹until the Son of Man rose from the dead.

¹⁰They ¹seized upon ²that statement, discussing with one another ³what rising from the dead meant.

¹¹They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^aElijah must come first?”

¹²And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of ^athe Son of Man that ^bHe will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

¹³“But I say to you that Elijah has ¹indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

All Things Possible

^14aWhen they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them.

¹⁵Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^aamazed and began running up to greet Him.

¹⁶And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”

¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;

¹⁸and ¹whenever it seizes him, it ²slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ³stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

¹⁹And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

²⁰They brought ¹the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.

²¹And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.

²²“It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

²³And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ ^aAll things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

²⁵When Jesus saw that ^aa crowd was ¹rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I ²command you, come out of him and do not enter him ³again.”

²⁶After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!”

²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

²⁸When He came ^ainto the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?”

²⁹And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Death and Resurrection Foretold

^30aFrom there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it.

³¹For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^aThe Son of Man is to be ¹delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

³²But ^athey ¹did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33aThey came to Capernaum; and when He ¹was in ^bthe house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way ^athey had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

³⁵Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “^aIf anyone wants to be first, ¹he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

³⁶Taking a child, He set him ¹before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,

³⁷“^aWhoever receives ¹one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

^38aJohn said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^bwe tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”

³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.

⁴⁰“^aFor he who is not against us is ¹for us.

⁴¹“For ^awhoever gives you a cup of water to drink ¹because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

⁴²“^aWhoever causes one of these ¹little ones who believe to stumble, it ²would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he ³had been cast into the sea.

⁴³“^aIf your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ^1bhell, into the ^cunquenchable fire,

⁴⁴¹where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁵“If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into ^1ahell,

⁴⁶¹where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁷“^aIf your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into ^1bhell,

^48awhere their worm does not die, and ^bthe fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰“Salt is good; but ^aif the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ¹make it salty again? ^bHave salt in yourselves, and ^cbe at peace with one another.”

Chapter 10

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

^1aGetting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, ^baccording to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to ¹divorce a wife.

³And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “^aMoses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and ¹send her away.”

⁵But Jesus said to them, “^1aBecause of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

⁶“But ^afrom the beginning of creation, God ^bmade them male and female.

⁷“^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother¹,

^8aand the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.

⁹“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.

¹¹And He said to them, “^aWhoever ¹divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

¹²and ^aif she herself ¹divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13aAnd they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; ^afor the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵“Truly I say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

¹⁶And He ^atook them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17aAs He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^bknelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to ^cinherit eternal life?”

¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

¹⁹“You know the commandments, ‘^aDo not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ”

²⁰And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^aall these things from my youth up.”

²¹Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^atreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But at these words ¹he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “^aHow hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴The disciples ^awere amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵“^aIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶They were even more astonished and said to Him, “¹Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, “^aWith people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28aPeter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^athere is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,

³⁰¹but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ²the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^athe age to come, eternal life.

³¹“But ^amany who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32aThey were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^bwere amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him,

³³saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^athe Son of Man will be ¹delivered to the chief priests and the…