Gospel of Mark: part 2

Gospel of Mark: part 2 - 

Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device.

Chapter 6

And he went away from there, and came into his country; and his disciples went with him.

And when the Sabbath day had come, he was teaching in the Synagogue; and a number of people hearing him were surprised, saying, From where did this man get these things? and, What is the wisdom given to this man, and what are these works of power done by his hands?

Is not this the woodworker, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were bitter against him.

And Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour, but in his country, and among his relations, and in his family.

And he was unable to do any work of power there, but only to put his hands on one or two persons who were ill, and make them well.

And he was greatly surprised because they had no faith. And he went about the country places teaching.

And he gave orders to the twelve, and sent them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;

And he said that they were to take nothing for their journey, but a stick only; no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets;

They were to go with common shoes on their feet, and not to take two coats.

And he said to them, Wherever you go into a house, make that your resting-place till you go away.

And whatever place will not take you in and will not give ear to you, when you go away, put off the dust from your feet as a witness against them.

And they went out, preaching the need for a change of heart in men.

And they sent out a number of evil spirits, and put oil on a great number who were ill, and made them well.

And king Herod had news of him, because his name was on the lips of all; and he said, John the Baptist has come back from the dead, and for this reason these powers are working in him.

But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is a prophet, even like one of the prophets.

But Herod, when he had news of it, said, John, whom I put to death, has come back from the dead.

For Herod himself had sent men out to take John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had taken for himself.

For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother’s wife.

And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able;

For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly.

And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;

And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and did a dance, Herod and those who were at table with him were pleased with her; and the king said to the girl, Make a request for anything and I will give it you.

And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom.

And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist.

And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say ‘No’ to her.

And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John’s head in prison,

And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples had news of it, they came and took up his body, and put it in its last resting-place.

And the twelve came together to Jesus; and they gave him an account of all the things they had done, and all they had been teaching.

And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a quiet place, and take a rest for a time. Because there were a great number coming and going, and they had no time even for food.

And they went away in the boat to a waste place by themselves.

And the people saw them going, and a number of them, having knowledge who they were, went running there together on foot from all the towns, and got there before them.

And he got out, and saw a great mass of people, and he had pity on them, because they were like sheep without a keeper: and he gave them teaching about a number of things.

And at the end of the day, his disciples came to him and said, This place is waste land, and it is late:

Send them away, so that they may go into the country and small towns round about, and get some food for themselves.

But he said to them in answer, Give them food yourselves. And they said to him, Are we to go and get bread for two hundred pence, and give it to them?

And he said to them, How much bread have you? go and see. And when they had seen, they said, Five cakes of bread and two fishes.

And he made them all be seated in groups on the green grass.

And they were placed in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.

And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them; and when the cakes were broken, he gave them to the disciples to put before the people; and he made division of the two fishes among them all.

And they all took of the food and had enough.

And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken bits and of the fishes.

And those who took of the bread were five thousand men.

And straight away he made his disciples get into the boat, and go before him to the other side to Beth-saida, while he himself sent the people away.

And after he had sent them away, he went up into a mountain for prayer.

And by evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he by himself on the land.

And seeing that they had trouble in getting their boat through the water, because the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea; and he would have gone past them;

But they, when they saw him walking on the sea, took him for a spirit, and gave a loud cry:

For they all saw him, and were troubled. But straight away he said to them, Take heart, it is I, have no fear.

And he went to them into the boat, and the wind went down, and they were full of wonder in themselves;

For it was not clear to them about the bread; but their hearts were hard.

And when they had gone across, they came to Gennesaret, and got their boat to land.

And when they had got out of the boat, the people quickly had news of him,

And went running through all the country round about, and took on their beds those who were ill, to where it was said that he was.

And wherever he went, into small towns, or great towns, or into the country, they took those who were ill into the market-places, requesting him that they might put their hands even on the edge of his robe: and all those who did so were made well.

Chapter 7

And there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them:

And when they come from the market-place, they take no food till their hands are washed; and a number of other orders there are, which have been handed down to them to keep–washings of cups and pots and brass vessels.

And the Pharisees and the scribes put the question to him, Why do your disciples not keep the rules of the fathers, but take their bread with unwashed hands?

And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men.

For, turning away from the law of God, you keep the rules of men.

And he said to them, Truly you put on one side the law of God, so that you may keep the rules which have been handed down to you.

For Moses said, Give honour to your father and mother, and, He who says evil of father or mother, let him have the punishment of death:

But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God,

You no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother;

Making the word of God of no effect by your rule, which you have given: and a number of other such things you do.

And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you:

There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean.

 

And when he had gone into the house away from all the people, his disciples put questions to him about the saying.

And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean,

Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean.

And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean.

Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures,

The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts:

All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.

And he went away from there to the country of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house, desiring that no man might have knowledge of it: and he was not able to keep it secret.

But a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having had news of him, came straight away and went down at his feet.

Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by birth: and she made a request to him that he would send the evil spirit out of her daughter.

And he said to her, Let the children first have their food: for it is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.

But she said to him in answer, Yes, Lord: even the dogs under the table take the bits dropped by the children.

And he said to her, For this saying go your way; the evil spirit has gone out of your daughter.

And she went away to her house, and saw the child on the bed, and the evil spirit gone out.

And again he went out from Tyre, and came through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the country of Decapolis.

And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him.

And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man’s tongue with his finger;

And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open.

And his ears became open, and the band of his tongue was made loose, and his words became clear.

And he gave them orders not to give news of it to anyone; but the more he made this request, so much the more they made it public.

And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.

Chapter 8

In those days again, when there was a great mass of people and they had no food, he made his disciples come to him and said to them,

I have pity for these people because they have been with me now three days, and have no food;

If I send them away to their houses with no food, they will be overcome by weariness on the way; and some of them have come from far.

And his disciples said in answer, How will it be possible to get enough bread for these men here in a waste place?

And he put the question, How much bread have you? And they said, Seven cakes.

And he made the people be seated on the earth: and he took the seven cakes and, having given praise, he gave the broken bread to his disciples to put before them; and they put it before the people.

And they had some small fishes; and blessing them he had them put before the people in the same way.

And they took the food, and had enough; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken bits.

And there were about four thousand people: and he sent them away.

And he got into the boat with his disciples straight away, and came into the country of Dalmanutha.

And the Pharisees came out and put questions to him, requesting from him a sign from heaven, testing him.

And he was very sad in spirit, and said, Why is this generation looking for a sign? truly, I say to you, No sign will be given to this generation.

And he went away from them, and again got into the boat and went across to the other side.

And they had taken no thought to get bread; and they had only one cake of bread with them in the boat.

And he said to them, Take care to be on the watch against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

And they said to one another, We have no bread.

And Jesus, hearing it, said to them, Why are you reasoning among yourselves because you have no bread? do you still not see, and is it still not clear to you? are your hearts so hard?

Having eyes, do you not see? and having ears, have you no hearing? and have you no memory?

When I made a division of the five cakes of bread among the five thousand, what number of baskets full of broken bits did you take up? They said to him, Twelve.

And when the seven among the four thousand, what number of baskets full of broken bits did you take up? And they said to him, Seven.

And he said to them, Is it still not clear to you?

And they came to Beth-saida. And they took a blind man to him, requesting him to put his hands on him.

And he took the blind man by the hand, and went with him out of the town; and when he had put water from his mouth on his eyes, and put his hands on him, he said, Do you see anything?

And looking up, he said, I see men; I see them like trees, walking.

Then again he put his hands on his eyes; and looking hard, he was able to see, and saw all things clearly.

And he sent him away to his house, saying, Do not even go into the town.

And Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the little towns round Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he put a question to his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I am?

And they made answer, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets.

And he said to them, But who do you say I am? Peter said in answer, You are the Christ.

And he put them under orders not to say this of him to anyone.

And teaching them, he said that the Son of man would have to undergo much, and be hated by those in authority, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be put to death, and after three days come back from the dead.

And he said this openly. And Peter took him, and was protesting.

But he, turning about, and seeing his disciples, said sharply to Peter, Get out of my way, Satan: for your mind is not on the things of God, but on the things of men.

And turning to the mass of people with his disciples, he said to them, If any man has the desire to come after me, let him give up all other desires, and take up his cross and come after me.

Whoever has a desire to keep his life, will have it taken from him; and whoever gives up his life because of me and the good news, will keep it.

What profit has a man if he gets all the world with the loss of his life?

And what would a man give in exchange for his life?

Whoever has a feeling of shame because of me and my words in this false and evil generation, the Son of man will have a feeling of shame because of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Chapter 9

And he said to them, Truly I say to you, There are some here who will have no taste of death till they see the kingdom of God come with power.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and made them go up with him into a high mountain by themselves: and he was changed in form before them:

And his clothing became shining, very white, as no cleaner on earth would make it.

And there came before them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

And Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tents; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

Because he was not certain what to say, for they were in great fear.

And a cloud came over them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, give ear to him.

And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any longer, but Jesus only with themselves.

And while they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to give word to any man of the things they had seen, till the Son of man had come back from the dead.

And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the coming back from the dead might be.

And they put a question to him, saying, Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?

And he said to them, Truly, Elijah does come first, and puts all things in order; and how is it said in the Writings that the Son of man will go through much sorrow and be made as nothing?

But I say to you that Elijah has come, and they have done to him whatever they were pleased to do, even as the Writings say about him.

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great mass of people about them, and scribes questioning them.

And straight away all the people, when they saw him, were full of wonder, and running to him, gave him worship.

And he said, What are you questioning them about?

And one of the number said to him in answer, Master, I came to you with my son, who has in him a spirit which takes away his power of talking;

And wherever it takes him, it puts him down violently, streaming at the lips and twisted with pain; and his strength goes from him; and I made a request to your disciples to send it out, and they were not able.

And he said to them in answer, O generation without faith, how long will I have to be with you? how long will I put up with you? let him come to me.

And they took him to him: and when he saw him, the spirit in him straight away became violent; and he went down on the earth, rolling about and streaming at the lips.

And Jesus questioning the father said, How long has he been like this? And he said, From a child.

And frequently it has sent him into the fire and into the water, for his destruction; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, and give us help.

And Jesus said to him, If you are able! All things are possible to him who has faith.

Straight away the father of the child gave a cry, saying, I have faith; make my feeble faith stronger.

And when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he gave orders to the unclean spirit, saying to him, You, spirit, who are the cause of his loss of voice and hearing, I say to you, come out of him, and never again go into him.

And after crying out and shaking him violently, it came out: and the child became like one dead; so that most of them said, He is dead.

But Jesus took him by the hand, lifting him up; and he got up.

And when he had gone into the house, his disciples said to him privately, Why were we unable to send it out?

And he said to them, Nothing will make this sort come out but prayer.

And they went out from there, through Galilee; and it was his desire that no man might have knowledge of it;

For he was giving his disciples teaching, and saying to them, The Son of man is given up into the hands of men, and they will put him to death; and when he is dead, after three days he will come back from the dead.

But the saying was not clear to them, and they were in fear of questioning him about it.

And they came to Capernaum: and when he was in the house, he put the question to them, What were you talking about on the way?

But they said nothing: because they had had an argument between themselves on the way, about who was the greatest.

And seating himself, he made the twelve come to him; and he said to them, If any man has the desire to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all.

And he took a little child, and put him in the middle of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them,

Whoever will give honour to one such little child in my name, gives honour to me: and whoever gives honour to me, gives honour not to me, but to him who sent me.

John said to him, Master, we saw one driving out evil spirits in your name: and we said that he might not, because he is not one of us.

But Jesus said, Say not so: for there is no man who will do a great work in my name, and be able at the same time to say evil of me.

He who is not against us is for us.

Whoever gives you a cup of water, because you are Christ’s, truly I say to you, he will in no way be without his reward.

And whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him if a great stone was put round his neck and he was dropped into the sea.

And if your hand is a cause of trouble to you, let it be cut off; it is better for you to go into life with one hand than to have two hands and go into hell, into the eternal fire.

 

And if your foot is a cause of trouble to you, let it be cut off: it is better for you to go into life with one foot than to have two feet and go into hell.

 

And if your eye is a cause of trouble to you, take it out: it is better for you to go into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to go into hell,

Where their worm is ever living and the fire is not put out.

Everyone will be salted with fire.

Salt is good; but if the taste goes from it, how will you make it salt again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.

Chapter 10

And he got up, and went into the country of Judaea on the other side of Jordan: and great numbers of people came together to him again; and, as was his way, he gave them teaching.

And Pharisees came to him, testing him with the question, Is it right for a man to put away his wife?

And he said to them in answer, What did Moses say you were to do?

And they said to him, Moses let us give her a statement in writing, and be free from her.

But Jesus said to them, Because of your hard hearts he gave you this law.

But from the first, male and female made he them.

For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother, and be joined to his wife;

And the two will become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Let not that which has been joined together by God be parted by man.

And in the house the disciples put questions to him again about this thing.

And he said to them, Whoever puts away his wife and takes another, is false to his wife;

And if she herself puts away her husband and takes another, she is false to her husband.

And they took to him little children, so that he might put his hands on them: and the disciples said sharp words to them.

And when Jesus saw it, he was angry, and said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not keep them away; for of such is the kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you, Whoever does not put himself under the kingdom of God like a little child, will not come into it at all.

And he took them in his arms, and gave them a blessing, putting his hands on them.

And while he was going out into the way, a man came running to him, and went down on his knees, saying, Good Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?

And Jesus said to him, Why do you say I am good? no one is good but one, and that is God.

You have knowledge of what is said in the law, Do not put any one to death, Do not be untrue in married life, Do not take what is not yours, Do not give false witness, Do not get money by deceit, Give honour to your father and mother.

And he said to him, Master, all these laws I have kept from the time when I was young.

And Jesus, looking on him and loving him, said, There is one thing needed: go, get money for your goods, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come with me.

But his face became sad at the saying, and he went away sorrowing: for he was one who had much property.

And Jesus, looking round about, said to his disciples, How hard it is for those who have wealth to come into the kingdom of God!

And the disciples were full of wonder at his words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is for those who put faith in wealth to come into the kingdom of God!

It is simpler for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a man of wealth to come into the kingdom of God.

And they were greatly surprised, saying to him, Who then may have salvation?

Jesus, looking on them, said, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are possible with God.

Peter said to him, See, we have given up everything, and come after you.

Jesus said, Truly I say to you, There is no man who has given up house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, because of me and the good news,

Who will not get a hundred times as much now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land–though with great troubles; and, in the world to come, eternal life.

But a great number who are first will be last: and those who are last will be first.

And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going before them: and they were full of wonder; but those who came after him were in fear. And again he took the twelve, and gave them word of the things which were to come on him,

Saying, See, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be given up to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will give an order for his death, and will give him up to the Gentiles:

And they will make sport of him, and put shame on him, and give him cruel blows, and will put him to death; and after three days he will come back from the dead.

And there came to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying to him, Master, will you give us whatever may be our request?

And he said to them, What would you have me do for you?

And they said to him, Let us be seated, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.

But Jesus said to them, You have no knowledge of what you are saying. Are you able to take of my cup? or to undergo the baptism which I am to undergo?

And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, You will take of the cup from which I take; and the baptism which I am about to undergo you will undergo:

But to be seated at my right hand or at my left is not for me to give: but it is for those for whom it has been made ready.

And hearing this, the ten became very angry with James and John.

And Jesus made them come to him, and said to them, You see that those who are made rulers over the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them.

But it is not so among you: but whoever has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant:

And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him be servant of all.

For truly the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

And they came to Jericho: and when he was going out of Jericho, with his disciples and a great number of people, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind man, was seated by the wayside, with his hand out for money.

And when it came to his ears that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he gave a cry, and said, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And some of them, turning in protest, gave him an order to be quiet: but he went on crying out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus came to a stop and said, Let him come. And crying out to the blind man, they said to him, Be comforted: come, he has sent for you.

And he, putting off his coat, got up quickly, and came to Jesus.

And Jesus said to him, What would you have me do to you? And the blind man said, Master, make me able to see.

And Jesus said to him, Go on your way; your faith has made you well. And straight away he was able to see, and went after him in the way.