Mark 6
New American Standard Bible
Teaching at Nazareth
6 (A)Jesus went out from there and *came into [a](B)His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath came, He began (C)to teach in the synagogue; and [b]the (D)many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such [c]miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is this not (E)the carpenter, (F)the son of Mary and brother of [d]James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are (G)His sisters not here with us?” And they took (H)offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “(I)A prophet is not dishonored except in [e](J)his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” 5 And He could not do any [f]miracle there except that He (K)laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He was amazed at their unbelief.
(L)And He was going around the villages, teaching.
The Twelve Sent Out
7 (M)And (N)He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out (O)in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; 8 (P)and He instructed them that they were to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no [g]bag, no money in their belt— 9 but [h]to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not wear two [i]tunics.” 10 And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you [j]leave town. 11 Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, (Q)shake the dust [k]off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 (R)And they went out and [l]preached that people are to repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and (S)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
John’s Fate Recalled
14 (T)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “(U)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 (V)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is (W)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”
17 For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of (X)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “(Y)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And (Z)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; 20 for (AA)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he [m]used to enjoy listening to him. 21 An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, (AB)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people (AC)of Galilee; 22 and when the daughter of (AD)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and [n]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 (AE)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, because of his oaths and [o]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him 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 heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.
30 (AF)The (AG)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 little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and (AH)they did not even have time to eat.) 32 (AI)And they went away in (AJ)the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
Five Thousand Men Fed
33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went [p]ashore, He (AK)saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because (AL)they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “[q]This place is secluded and it is already late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves [r]something to eat.” 37 But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” (AM)And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred [s](AN)denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 But 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 ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. 40 They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He (AO)blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied; 43 and they picked up twelve full (AP)baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. 44 There were (AQ)five thousand [t]men who ate the loaves.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 (AR)And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into (AS)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to (AT)Bethsaida, while He Himself *dismissed the crowd. 46 And after (AU)saying goodbye to them, He left (AV)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 [u]straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the [v](AW)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 thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were [w]terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “(AX)Take courage; it is I, (AY)do not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into (AZ)the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for (BA)they [x]had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but [y]their hearts (BB)were hardened.
Healing at Gennesaret
53 (BC)When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored at the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, [z]to wherever they heard He was. 56 And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just (BD)touch (BE)the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were being [aa]healed.
Footnotes
- Mark 6:1 Or His own part of the country
- Mark 6:2 One early ms many listeners
- Mark 6:2 Or works of power
- Mark 6:3 Or Jacob
- Mark 6:4 Or his own part of the country
- Mark 6:5 Or work of power
- Mark 6:8 Or knapsack; or beggar’s bag
- Mark 6:9 Lit having tied on
- Mark 6:9 A long shirt worn next to the skin
- Mark 6:10 Lit go out from there
- Mark 6:11 Lit under your feet
- Mark 6:12 Or proclaimed as heralds
- Mark 6:20 Lit was hearing him gladly
- Mark 6:22 Lit those who reclined at the table with him
- Mark 6:26 Lit those reclining at the table
- Mark 6:34 Lit out
- Mark 6:35 Lit The
- Mark 6:36 Lit what they may eat
- Mark 6:37 The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
- Mark 6:44 I.e., 5,000 men plus women and children, cf. Matt 14:21
- Mark 6:48 Lit tormented in rowing
- Mark 6:48 I.e., 3-6 a.m.
- Mark 6:50 Or troubled
- Mark 6:52 Lit had not understood on the basis of
- Mark 6:52 Lit heart was hardened; or their mind was closed, made dull; or insensible
- Mark 6:55 Lit where they were hearing that He
- Mark 6:56 Lit saved
Mark 6
New Living Translation
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
6 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” 3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. 7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil[c] spirits. 8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.[d] 9 He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.
10 “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. 11 But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”
12 So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. 13 And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.
The Death of John the Baptist
14 Herod Antipas, the king, soon heard about Jesus, because everyone was talking about him. Some were saying,[e] “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles.” 15 Others said, “He’s the prophet Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet like the other great prophets of the past.”
16 When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.”
17 For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, 20 for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.
21 Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. 22 Then his daughter, also named Herodias,[f] came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” 23 He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!”
24 She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!”
25 So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!”
26 Then the king deeply regretted what he had said; but because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier beheaded John in the prison, 28 brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother. 29 When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”
37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money[g] to buy food for all these people!”
38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”
They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. 44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.[h]
Jesus Walks on Water
45 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. 46 After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.
47 Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. 48 He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning[i] Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 50 They were all terrified when they saw him.
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here![j]” 51 Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, 52 for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.
53 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore 54 and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, 55 and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.
Footnotes
- 6:3a Some manuscripts read He’s just the son of the carpenter and of Mary.
- 6:3b Most manuscripts read Joses; see Matt 13:55.
- 6:7 Greek unclean.
- 6:8 Greek no copper coins in their money belts.
- 6:14 Some manuscripts read He was saying.
- 6:22 Some manuscripts read the daughter of Herodias herself.
- 6:37 Greek It would take 200 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
- 6:44 Some manuscripts read fed from the loaves.
- 6:48 Greek About the fourth watch of the night.
- 6:50 Or The ‘I am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
