Mark 6:45–8:26

Jesus Walks on the Water

6:45–51pp—Mt 14:22–32; Jn 6:15–21 6:53–56pp—Mt 14:34–36

⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat^w and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,^x while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.^y

⁴⁷Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost.^z They cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^{a 51}Then he climbed into the boat^b with them, and the wind died down.^c They were completely amazed, ⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.^d

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.^{e 54}As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak,^f and all who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles

7:1–23pp—Mt 15:1–20

7The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ²and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,^g that is, unwashed. ³(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.^{h 4}When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.^a)ⁱ

⁵So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders^j instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

⁶He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

⁷They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’^bk

⁸You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”^l

⁹And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^c your own traditions!^{m 10}For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’^dn and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{eo 11}But you say^p that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—¹²then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³Thus you nullify the word of God^q by your tradition^r that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16]f

¹⁷After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him^s about this parable. ¹⁸“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods^t clean.)^u

²⁰He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed,^v malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

7:24–30pp—Mt 15:21–28

²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.^gw He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit^x came and fell at his feet. ²⁶The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁸“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

7:31–37pp—Mt 15:29–31

³¹Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre^y and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee^z and into the region of the Decapolis.^{ha 32}There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,^b and they begged Jesus to place his hand on^c him.

³³After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit^d and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴He looked up to heaven^e and with a deep sigh^f said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.^g

³⁶Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.^h But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8:1–9pp—Mt 15:32–39 8:1–9Ref—Mk 6:32–44 8:11–21pp—Mt 16:1–12

8During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ²“I have compassion for these people;ⁱ they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

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

“Seven,” they replied.

⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. ⁷They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.^{j 8}The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.^{k 9}About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, ¹⁰he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.^{l 12}He sighed deeply^m and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” ¹³Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. ¹⁵“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeastⁿ of the Pharisees^o and that of Herod.”^p

¹⁶They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?^{q 18}Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,”^r they replied.

²⁰“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”^s

²¹He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”^t

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²They came to Bethsaida,^u and some people brought a blind man^v and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit^w on the man’s eyes and put his hands on^x him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into^a the village.”