Mark 8–9

More than Four Thousand People Fed

8Another time there was a great crowd with Jesus that had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his followers and said, ²“I feel sorry for these people, because they have already been with me for three days, and they have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them live a long way from here.”

⁴Jesus’ followers answered, “How can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”

⁵Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”

They answered, “Seven.”

⁶Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, and divided the bread. He gave the pieces to his followers to give to the people, and they did so. ⁷The followers also had a few small fish. After Jesus gave thanks for the fish, he told his followers to give them to the people also. ⁸All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his followers filled seven baskets with the leftover pieces of food. ⁹There were about four thousand people who ate. After they had eaten, Jesus sent them home. ¹⁰Then right away he got into a boat with his followers and went to the area of Dalmanutha.

The Leaders Ask for a Miracle

¹¹The Pharisees came to Jesus and began to ask him questions. Hoping to trap him, they asked Jesus for a miracle from God. ¹²Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why do you people ask for a miracle as a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to you.” ¹³Then Jesus left the Pharisees and went in the boat to the other side of the lake.

Guard Against Wrong Teachings

¹⁴His followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat; they had forgotten to bring more. ¹⁵Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, “He said this because we have no bread.”

¹⁷Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about not having bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your minds closed? ¹⁸You have eyes, but you don’t really see. You have ears, but you don’t really listen. Remember when ¹⁹I divided five loaves of bread for the five thousand? How many baskets did you fill with leftover pieces of food?”

They answered, “Twelve.”

²⁰“And when I divided seven loaves of bread for the four thousand, how many baskets did you fill with leftover pieces of food?”

They answered, “Seven.”

²¹Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

²²Jesus and his followers came to Bethsaida. There some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch the man. ²³So Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on the man and asked, “Can you see now?”

²⁴The man looked up and said, “Yes, I see people, but they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Again Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then the man opened his eyes wide and they were healed, and he was able to see everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus told him to go home, saying, “Don’t go into the town.” ⁿ

Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ

²⁷Jesus and his followers went to the towns around Caesarea Philippi. While they were traveling, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, ⁿ and others say you are one of the prophets.”

²⁹Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰Jesus warned his followers not to tell anyone who he was.

³¹Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and that he would be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He told them that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from the dead after three days. ³²Jesus told them plainly what would happen. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to tell him not to talk like that. ³³But Jesus turned and looked at his followers. Then he told Peter not to talk that way. He said, “Go away from me, Satan! ⁿ You don’t care about the things of God, but only about things people think are important.”

³⁴Then Jesus called the crowd to him, along with his followers. He said, “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me. ³⁵Those who want to save their lives will give up true life. But those who give up their lives for me and for the Good News will have true life. ³⁶It is worthless to have the whole world if they lose their souls. ³⁷They could never pay enough to buy back their souls. ³⁸The people who live now are living in a sinful and evil time. If people are ashamed of me and my teaching, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes with his Father’s glory and with the holy angels.”

9Then Jesus said to the people, “I tell you the truth, some people standing here will see the kingdom of God come with power before they die.”

Jesus Talks with Moses and Elijah

²Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain by themselves. While they watched, Jesus’ appearance was changed. ³His clothes became shining white, whiter than any person could make them. ⁴Then Elijah and Moses ⁿ appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶Peter did not know what to say, because he and the others were so frightened.

⁷Then a cloud came and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

⁸Suddenly Peter, James, and John looked around, but they saw only Jesus there alone with them.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

¹⁰So the followers obeyed Jesus, but they discussed what he meant about rising from the dead.

¹¹Then they asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²Jesus answered, “They are right to say that Elijah must come first and make everything the way it should be. But why does the Scripture say that the Son of Man will suffer much and that people will treat him as if he were nothing? ¹³I tell you that Elijah has already come. And people did to him whatever they wanted to do, just as the Scriptures said it would happen.”

Jesus Heals a Sick Boy

¹⁴When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came back to the other followers, they saw a great crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵But as soon as the crowd saw Jesus, the people were surprised and ran to welcome him.

¹⁶Jesus asked, “What are you arguing about?”

¹⁷A man answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit in him that stops him from talking. ¹⁸When the spirit attacks him, it throws him on the ground. Then my son foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes very stiff. I asked your followers to force the evil spirit out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “You people have no faith. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰So the followers brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it made the boy lose control of himself, and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening?”

The father answered, “Since he was very young. ²²The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to kill him. If you can do anything for him, please have pity on us and help us.”

²³Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.”

²⁴Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe! Help me to believe more!”

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ordered the evil spirit, saying, “You spirit that makes people unable to hear or speak, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!”

²⁶The evil spirit screamed and caused the boy to fall on the ground again. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, “He is dead!” ²⁷But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up.

²⁸When Jesus went into the house, his followers began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we force that evil spirit out?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.” ⁿ

Jesus Talks About His Death

³⁰Then Jesus and his followers left that place and went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know where he was, ³¹because he was teaching his followers. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to people, and they will kill him. After three days, he will rise from the dead.” ³²But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

³³Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. When they went into a house there, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.

³⁵Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be the most important must be last of all and servant of all.”

³⁶Then Jesus took a small child and had him stand among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said, ³⁷“Whoever accepts a child like this in my name accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the One who sent me.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us

³⁸Then John said, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”

³⁹But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him, because anyone who uses my name to do powerful things will not easily say evil things about me. ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is with us. ⁴¹I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a drink of water because you belong to the Christ will truly get his reward.…