New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

1 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.

2 They were watching Himto seeif He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

3 He said to the man with the withered hand,”Get up and come forward!”

4 And He said to them,”Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?”But they kept silent.

5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man,”Stretch out your hand.”And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

6 The Pharisees went out and immediatelybeganconspiring with the Herodians against Him,as tohow they might destroy Him.

7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; andalsofrom Judea,

8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.

9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him;

10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”

12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

The Twelve Are Chosen

13 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him.

14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that Hecouldsend them out to preach,

15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.

16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),

17 and James, thesonof Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”);

18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;

19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

20 And He camehome, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.

21 When His ownpeople heardof this,they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables,”How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!

27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

28 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;

29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”-

30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sentwordto Him and called Him.

32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”

33 Answering them, He said,”Who are My mother and My brothers?”

34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said,”Behold My mother and My brothers!

35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/3-f9e9fd4f4baa59edba01c90b0e68f858.mp3?version_id=100—

Parable of the Sower and Soils

1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

3 “Listento this!Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4 as he was sowing, someseedfell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

5 Otherseedfell on the rockygroundwhere it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.

6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

7 Otherseedfell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8 Otherseedsfell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

9 And He was saying,”He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve,beganasking Himaboutthe parables.

11 And He was saying to them,”To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,

12 so thatwhile seeing,they may see and not perceive, and while hearing,they may hear and not understand,otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”

Explanation

13 And He said to them,”Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?

14 The sower sows the word.

15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rockyplaces,who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;

17 and they have nofirmroot in themselves, but areonlytemporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.

18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

19 but the worries of theworld, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

21 And He was saying to them,”A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it notbroughtto be put on the lampstand?

22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor hasanythingbeen secret, but that it would come to light.

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

24 And He was saying to them,”Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.

25 For whoever has, to himmoreshall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

Parable of the Seed

26 And He was saying,”The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;

27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-how, he himself does not know.

28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 And He said,”How shall wepicture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?

31 It islike a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,

32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so thatthe birds of theaircannest under its shade.”

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Sea

35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them,”Let us go over to the other side.”

36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,”Hush, be still.”And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40 And He said to them,”Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/4-bf5bd6ad5e552416cb378e091d681637.mp3?version_id=100—

The Gerasene Demoniac

1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;

7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

8 For He had been saying to him,”Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

9 And He was asking him,”What is your name?”And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

10 And hebeganto implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.

12 The demonsimplored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.”

13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousandof them;and they were drowned in the sea.

14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. Andthe peoplecame to see what it was that had happened.

15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.

16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, andallabout the swine.

17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region.

18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.

19 And He did not let him, but He said to him,”Go home to your people and report to themwhat great things the Lord has done for you, andhowHe had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Miracles and Healing

21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet

23 and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death;pleasecome and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”

24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,

26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse-

27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behindHimand touched His cloak.

28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”

29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the powerproceedingfrom Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said,”Who touched My garments?”

31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'”

32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

34 And He said to her,”Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

35 While He was still speaking, they came from thehouse ofthe synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”

36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official,”Do not be afraidany longer,only believe.”

37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

38 They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, andpeopleloudly weeping and wailing.

39 And entering in, He said to them,”Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”

40 Theybeganlaughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and enteredthe roomwhere the child was.

41 Taking the child by the hand, He said to her,”Talitha kum!”(which translated means,”Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).

42 Immediately the girl got up andbeganto walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.

43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said thatsomethingshould be given her to eat.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/5-f82ae18b2300f9fec9203be015002d5d.mp3?version_id=100—

Teaching at Nazareth

1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him.

2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this mangetthese things, and what isthiswisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

4 Jesus said to them,”A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among hisownrelatives and in hisownhousehold.”

5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

6 And He wondered at their unbelief.

And He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;

8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing fortheirjourney, except a mere staff-no bread, no bag, no money in their belt-

9 buttowear sandals; andHe added,”Do not put on twotunics.”

10 And He said to them,”Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

11 Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”

12 They went out and preached thatmenshould repent.

13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

14 And King Herod heardof it,for His name had become well known; andpeoplewere saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”

15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He isa prophet, like one of the prophetsof old.”

16 But when Herod heardof it,he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

17 For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.

18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

19 Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could notdo so;

20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.

21 A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee;

22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”

23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”

24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”

25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 And although the king was very sorry,yetbecause of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commandedhimto bringbackhis head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,

28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

29 When his disciples heardabout this,they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

31 And He said to them,”Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”(For there were manypeoplecoming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Fed

33 The peoplesaw them going, and many recognizedthemand ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.

34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late;

36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But He answered them,”You give themsomethingto eat!”And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundreddenarii on bread and give themsomethingto eat?”

38 And He said to them,”How many loaves do you have? Go look!”And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.

41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessedthe foodand broke the loaves and He kept givingthemto the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.

44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead ofHimto the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.

48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.

49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;

50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them,”Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”

51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,

52 for they had not gained any insight from theincident ofthe loaves, but their heart was hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.

54 When they got out of the boat, immediatelythe peoplerecognized Him,

55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was.

56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/6-9a9db3e9adf993371ac1e29fdffd43d6.mp3?version_id=100—

Followers of Tradition

1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,

2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands,thusobserving the traditions of the elders;

4 andwhen they comefrom the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)

5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”

6 And He said to them,”Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honorsMe with their lips,

But their heart is far away fromMe.

7 ‘But in vain do they worshipMe,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

9 He was also saying to them,”You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother,is tobe put to death’;

11 but you say, ‘If a man says tohisfather orhismother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban(that is to say,givento God),’

12 you no longer permit him to do anything forhisfather orhismother;

13 thusinvalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, Hebegansaying to them,”Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:

15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.

16 [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

17 When he had left the crowdandentered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.

18 And He said to them,”Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?”(Thus Hedeclared all foods clean.)

20 And He was saying,”That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,

22 deeds of covetingandwickedness,as well asdeceit, sensuality, envy, slander, prideandfoolishness.

23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

24 Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to knowof it;yet He could not escape notice.

25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.

26 Now the woman was aGentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

27 And He was saying to her,”Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

28 But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord,buteven the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”

29 And He said to her,”Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”

30 And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

31 Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.

32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.

33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tonguewith the saliva;

34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him,”Ephphatha!”that is,”Be opened!”

35 And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and hebeganspeaking plainly.

36 And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

37 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/7-5b4e9a1701f2542e4d4d3489339942e4.mp3?version_id=100—

Four Thousand Fed

1 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them,

2 “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”

4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be ableto find enoughbread here inthisdesolate place to satisfy these people?”

5 And He was asking them,”How many loaves do you have?”And they said, “Seven.”

6 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people.

7 They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well.

8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

9 About four thousand werethere;and He sent them away.

10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

11 The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him.

12 Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said,”Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

13 Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

15 And He was giving orders to them, saying,”Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

16 Theybeganto discuss with one anotherthe factthat they had no bread.

17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them,”Why do you discussthe factthat you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?

18 Having eyes,do you not see? And having ears,do you not hear? And do you not remember,

19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?”They said to Him, “Twelve.”

20 “WhenI brokethe seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?”And they said to Him, “Seven.”

21 And He was saying to them,”Do you not yet understand?”

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him.

23 Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him,”Do you see anything?”

24 And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I seethemlike trees, walking around.”

25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, andbeganto see everything clearly.

26 And He sent him to his home, saying,”Do not even enter the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them,”Who do people say that I am?”

28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and otherssayElijah; but others, one of the prophets.”

29 And Hecontinuedby questioning them,”But who do you say that I am?”Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said,”Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind onGod’s interests, but man’s.”

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them,”If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/8-b6439045363c0066c9fd8f6ef633bcf4.mp3?version_id=100—

The Transfiguration

1 And Jesus was saying to them,”Truly 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 They asked Him, saying, “Why is itthat the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

12 And He said to them,”Elijah does first come and restore all things. Andyethow is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

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

All Things Possible

14 When they camebackto the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, andsomescribes arguing with them.

15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed andbeganrunning up to greet Him.

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

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

18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams himto the groundand he foamsat the mouth,and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could notdo it.”

19 And 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!”

20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, hebeganrolling around and foamingat the mouth.

21 And 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!”

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

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

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

26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; andthe boybecame so much like a corpse that mostof themsaid, “He is dead!”

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

28 When He came intothehouse, His disciplesbeganquestioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?”

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

Death and Resurrection Foretold

30 From there they went out andbeganto go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to knowabout it.

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

32 But they did not understandthisstatement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, Hebeganto question them,”What were you discussing on the way?”

34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another whichof them wasthe greatest.

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

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

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

Dire Warnings

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

39 But 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 For he who is not against us isfor us.

41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name asfollowersof Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

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

43 If 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 hell, into the unquenchable fire,

44 [wheretheir 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 hell,

46 [wheretheir worm does not die,and the fire is not quenched.]

47 If 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 hell,

48 wheretheir worm does not die,andthe fire is not quenched.

49 “For everyone will be salted with fire.

50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it saltyagain?Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/9-8274589565a2e388bf53d3c2a684df47.mp3?version_id=100—

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

1 Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once morebeganto teach them.

2 SomePharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, andbeganto question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.

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

4 They said, “Moses permitteda manto write a certificate of divorce andsendheraway.”

5 But Jesus said to them,”Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

6 But from the beginning of creation,Godmade them male and female.

7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother,

8 and 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.”

10 In the house the disciplesbeganquestioning Him about this again.

11 And He said to them,”Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

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

Jesus Blesses Little Children

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

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

15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter itat all.”

16 And He took them in His arms andbeganblessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

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

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

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

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

21 Looking 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 treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

29 Jesus said,”Truly I say to you, there 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,

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

31 But manywho arefirst will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

32 They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were 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,

33 saying,”Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will bedelivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles.

34 They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and killHim,and three days later He will rise again.”

35 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

36 And He said to them,”What do you want Me to do for you?”

37 They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one onYourleft, in Your glory.”

38 But Jesus said to them,”You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

39 They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them,”The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

40 But to sit on My right or onMyleft, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 Hearingthis,the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.

42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them,”You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.

43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant;

44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

46 Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggarnamedBartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road.

47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 And Jesus stopped and said,”Call himhere.”So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”

50 Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

51 And answering him, Jesus said,”What do you want Me to do for you?”And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni,I wantto regain my sight!”

52 And Jesus said to him,”Go; your faith has made you well.”Immediately he regained his sight andbeganfollowing Him on the road.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/10-5c50d37a9dc2f332504281c439effb86.mp3?version_id=100—

The Triumphal Entry

1 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples,

2 and said to them,”Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tiedthere,on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring ithere.

3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.”

4 They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it.

5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had toldthem,and they gave them permission.

7 They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it.

8 And many spread their coats in the road, and othersspreadleafy branches which they had cut from the fields.

9 Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting:

“Hosanna!

Blessed isHe who comes in the name of theLord;

10 Blessedisthe coming kingdom of our father David;

Hosanna in the highest!”

11 Jesus entered Jerusalemand cameinto the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.

13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He wentto seeif perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

14 He said to it,”May no one ever eat fruit from you again!”And His disciples were listening.

Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

16 and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

17 And Hebeganto teach and say to them,”Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it arobbers’den.”

18 The chief priests and the scribes heardthis,andbeganseeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

19 When evening came, they would go out of the city.

20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the rootsup.

21 Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”

22 And Jesus answered saying to them,”Have faith in God.

23 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will begrantedhim.

24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will begrantedyou.

25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

26 [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

27 They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him,

28 andbegansaying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

29 And Jesus said to them,”I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, andthenI will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”

31 Theybeganreasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

32 But shall we say, ‘From men’?”-they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.

33 Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them,”Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/11-9863100a32e4db95fbb412fdfa540442.mp3?version_id=100—

Parable of the Vine-growers

1 And He began to speak to them in parables:”A manplanted a vineyard and put awall around it,and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out tovine-growers and went on a journey.

2 At theharvesttime he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receivesomeof the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

3 They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

4 Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; andso withmany others, beating some and killing others.

6 He had one moreto send,a beloved son; he sent him lastof allto them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’

8 They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.

10 Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

This became the chief cornerstone;

11 This came about from theLord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to seize Him, andyetthey feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. Andsothey left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes

13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.

14 They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them,”Why are you testing Me? Bring Me adenarius to look at.”

16 They broughtone.And He said to them,”Whose likeness and inscription is this?”And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

17 And Jesus said to them,”Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”And they were amazed at Him.

18 SomeSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, andbeganquestioning Him, saying,

19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us thatif a man’s brother diesand leaves behind a wifeand leaves no child,his brother shouldmarry the wife and raise up children to his brother.

20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.

21 The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise;

22 andsoall seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also.

23 In the resurrection,when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”

24 Jesus said to them,”Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?

25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

26 But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in thepassageaboutthe burningbush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘Iam theGod ofAbraham,and theGod ofIsaac,and theGod ofJacob’?

27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

29 Jesus answered,”The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! TheLord ourGod is oneLord;

30 and you shall love theLord yourGod with all your heart,and with all your soul,and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He isOne,and there is no oneelse besidesHim;

33 and to loveHim with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength,and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him,”You are not far from the kingdom of God.”After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

35 And Jesusbeganto say, as He taught in the temple,”Howis it thatthe scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit,

‘TheLord said to myLord,

“Sit atMy right hand,

UntilIputYour enemies beneathYour feet.”‘

37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?”And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.

38 In His teaching He was saying:”Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, andlikerespectful greetings in the market places,

39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, andbeganobserving how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.

42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent.

43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them,”Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury;

44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/MRK/12-5710dcb4be962f785c536bc582874c84.mp3?version_id=100—