Mark 6-7

Amplified Bible

Teaching at Nazareth

6 Jesus left there and came to His hometown [Nazareth]; and His disciples followed Him.^{(A) 2} When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things [this knowledge and spiritual insight]? What is this wisdom [this confident understanding of the Scripture] that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is this not the carpenter, ^[a]the son of Mary, and the brother of ^[b]James and Joses and ^[c]Judas and Simon? Are His sisters not here with us?” And they were [deeply] offended by Him [and their disapproval blinded them to the fact that He was anointed by God as the Messiah]. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could not do a miracle there at all [because of their unbelief] except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ He wondered at their unbelief.

And He was going around in the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

⁷ And He called the twelve [disciples] and began to send them out [as His special messengers] two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He told them to take nothing for the journey except a mere walking stick—no bread, no [traveler’s] bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to wear sandals; and [He told them] not to wear ^[d]two tunics. ¹⁰ And He told them, “Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ Any place that does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, ^[e]shake the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them [breaking all ties with them because they rejected My message].”^{(B) 12} So they went out and preached that men should repent [that is, think differently, recognize sin, turn away from it, and live changed lives]. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

¹⁴ King Herod [Antipas] heard about this, for Jesus’ name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^[f]Elijah!” And others were saying, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard [of it], he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen [from the dead]!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent [guards] and had John arrested and shackled in prison because of ^[g]Herodias, the wife of his [half-] brother Philip, because he (Herod) had married her.^{(C) 18} For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful [under Mosaic Law] for you to have your brother’s wife.”^{(D) 19} Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not, ²⁰ because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he continually kept him safe. When he heard John [speak], he was very perplexed; but he enjoyed listening to him. ²¹ But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and ^[h]military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² Now [Salome] the daughter of Herodias came in and danced [for the men]. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the ^[i]girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; ^[j]up to half of my kingdom.”^{(E) 24} She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And Herodias replied, “The head of John the Baptist!” ²⁵ And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!” ²⁶ The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her. ²⁷ So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John’s head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away John’s body and laid it in a tomb.

Five Thousand Fed

³⁰ The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught. ³¹ He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat. ³² And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.^{(F) 33} Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late; ³⁶ send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 ^[k]denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”^{(G) 38} He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.” ³⁹ Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots]. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.^{(H) 46} And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And [acted as if] He intended to pass by them.^{(I) 49} But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror]; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”^{(J) 51} Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased [as if exhausted by its own activity]; and they were completely overwhelmed, ⁵² because they had not understood [the miracle of] the loaves [how it revealed the power and deity of Jesus]; but [in fact] their heart was hardened [being oblivious and indifferent to His amazing works].

Healing at Gennesaret

⁵³ When they had crossed over [the sea], they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore. ⁵⁴ They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran throughout that surrounding countryside and began to carry around on their mats those who were sick, to any place where they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He came into villages, or cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places and pleading with Him [to allow them] just to touch the fringe (tassel with a blue cord) of His robe; and all who touched it were healed.

Followers of Tradition

7 Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him, ² and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual]. ³ (^[l]For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they ^[m]carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they ^[n]cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?” ⁶ He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],

⁸ You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death’;^{(L) 11} but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),”’ ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban]; ¹³ so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the people to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen [carefully] to Me, all of you, [hear] and understand [what I am saying]: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him. ^16 [o][If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

¹⁷ When Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the ^[p]house, His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him, ¹⁹ since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?” (By this, He declared all foods ^[q]ceremonially clean.) ²⁰ And He said, “Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him. ²¹ For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment). ²³ All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

²⁴ Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].^{(M) 25} Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a ^[r]Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ He was saying to her, “First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[s]pet dogs (non-Jews).” ²⁸ But she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter [permanently].” ³⁰ And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone.

³¹ Soon after this Jesus left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten Hellenistic cities]. ³² They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him. ³³ Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched the man’s tongue [with the saliva]; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which [in Aramaic] means, “^[t]Be opened and released!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”