Mark 9-12

New Century Version

9 Then 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

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

⁵ Peter 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.” ⁶ Peter did not know what to say, because he and the others were so frightened.

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

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

⁹ As 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.

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

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

¹² Jesus 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? ¹³ I 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

¹⁴ When 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. ¹⁵ But as soon as the crowd saw Jesus, the people were surprised and ran to welcome him.

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

¹⁷ A man answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit in him that stops him from talking. ¹⁸ When 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.”

¹⁹ Jesus 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.”

²⁰ So 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.

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

The father answered, “Since he was very young. ²² The 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.”

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

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

²⁵ When 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!”

²⁶ The 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!” ²⁷ But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up.

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

²⁹ Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.”^[b]

Jesus Talks About His Death

³⁰ Then Jesus and his followers left that place and went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know where he was, ³¹ because 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.” ³² But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

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

³⁵ Jesus 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.”

³⁶ Then 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

³⁸ Then 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.”

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

⁴² “If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body and live forever than to have two hands and go to hell, where the fire never goes out. [ ⁴⁴ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.]^{[c] 45} If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body and to live forever than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [ ⁴⁶ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.]^{[d] 47} If your eye causes you to sin, take it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁸ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out. ⁴⁹ Every person will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, be full of salt, and have peace with each other.”

Jesus Teaches About Divorce

10 Then Jesus left that place and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again, crowds came to him, and he taught them as he usually did.

² Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”

⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write out divorce papers and send her away.”^[e]

⁵ Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you were stubborn. ⁶ But when God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’^{[f] 7} ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife,^{[g] 8} and the two will become one body.’^[h] So there are not two, but one. ⁹ God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

¹⁰ Later, in the house, his followers asked Jesus again about the question of divorce. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against her. ¹² And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is also guilty of adultery.”

Jesus Accepts Children

¹³ Some people brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them, but his followers told them to stop. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was upset and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a little child, or you will never enter it.” ¹⁶ Then Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

A Rich Young Man’s Question

¹⁷ As Jesus started to leave, a man ran to him and fell on his knees before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ¹⁹ You know the commands: ‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. You must not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’”^[i]

²⁰ The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these things since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²² He was very sad to hear Jesus say this, and he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

²³ Then Jesus looked at his followers and said, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard^[j] 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The followers were even more surprised and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁸ Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms for me and for the Good News ³⁰ will get more than they left. Here in this world they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields. And with those things, they will also suffer for their belief. But in this age they will have life forever. ³¹ Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

³² As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem, he was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. ³³ He said, “Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die, and they will turn him over to the non-Jewish people, ³⁴ who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again.”

Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor

³⁵ Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.”

³⁶ Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷ They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory in your kingdom.”

³⁸ Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?”^[k]

³⁹ They answered, “Yes, we can.”

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. ⁴⁰ But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the other ten followers heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.

⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. ⁴³ But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. ⁴⁴ Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. ⁴⁵ In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

⁴⁶ Then they came to the town of Jericho. As Jesus was leaving there with his followers and a great many people, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many people warned the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Tell the man to come here.”

So they called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get to your feet. Jesus is calling you.” ⁵⁰ The blind man jumped up, left his coat there, and went to Jesus.

⁵¹ Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man answered, “Teacher, I want to see.”

⁵² Jesus said, “Go, you are healed because you believed.” At once the man could see, and he followed Jesus on the road.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

11 As Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers ² and said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a colt tied, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him its Master needs the colt, and he will send it at once.”

⁴ The followers went into the town, found a colt tied in the street near the door of a house, and untied it. ⁵ Some people were standing there and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?” ⁶ The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer, and the people let them take the colt.

⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches in the fields and spread them on the road. ⁹ The people were walking ahead of Jesus and behind him, shouting,

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After he had looked at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve apostles.

¹² The next day as Jesus was leaving Bethany, he became hungry. ¹³ Seeing a fig tree in leaf from far away, he went to see if it had any figs on it. But he found no figs, only leaves, because it was not the right season for figs. ¹⁴ So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And Jesus’ followers heard him say this.

Jesus Goes to the Temple

¹⁵ When Jesus returned to Jerusalem, he went into the Temple and began to throw out those who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶ Jesus refused to allow anyone to carry goods through the Temple courts. ¹⁷ Then he taught the people, saying, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house for prayer for people from all nations.’^[m] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”^[n]

¹⁸ The leading priests and the teachers of the law heard all this and began trying to find a way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because all the people were amazed at his teaching. ¹⁹ That evening, Jesus and his followers^[o] left the city.

The Power of Faith

²⁰ The next morning as Jesus was passing by with his followers, they saw the fig tree dry and dead, even to the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!”

²² Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. ²³ I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. ²⁴ So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. ²⁵ When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [ ²⁶ But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]”^[p]

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority

²⁷ Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ³⁰ Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”

³¹ They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.)

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

A Story About God’s Son

12 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ² When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³ But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. ⁵ So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.

⁶ “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this Scripture:

¹² The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?

¹³ Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians^[q] to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay them, or not?”

But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.” ¹⁶ They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”

They answered, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) ¹⁹ They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁰ Once there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no children. ²¹ So the second brother married the widow, but he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. ²² All seven brothers married her and died, and none of the brothers had any children. Finally the woman died too. ²³ Since all seven brothers had married her, when people rise from the dead, whose wife will she be?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “Why don’t you understand? Don’t you know what the Scriptures say, and don’t you know about the power of God? ²⁵ When people rise from the dead, they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Surely you have read what God said about people rising from the dead. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[r] it says that God told Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[s] 27} God is the God of the living, not the dead. You Sadducees are wrong!”

The Most Important Command

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’^{[t] 31} The second command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^[u] There are no commands more important than these.”

³² The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You were right when you said God is the only Lord and there is no other God besides him. ³³ One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely, Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

³⁵ As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said:

³⁷ David himself calls the Christ ‘Lord,’ so how can the Christ be his son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.

³⁸ Jesus continued teaching and said, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing fancy clothes, and they love for people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces. ³⁹ They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at feasts. ⁴⁰ But they cheat widows and steal their houses and then try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. They will receive a greater punishment.”

True Giving

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. ⁴⁴ They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.”