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14 And when they came to the [nine] disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes questioning and disputing with them.

15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Jesus [[a]returning from the holy mount, His face and person yet glistening], they were greatly amazed and ran up to Him [and] greeted Him.

16 And He asked them, About what are you questioning and discussing with them?

17 And one of the throng replied to Him, Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a dumb spirit.

18 And wherever it lays hold of him [so as to make him its own], it dashes him down and convulses him, and he foams [at the mouth] and grinds his teeth, and he [[b]falls into a motionless stupor and] is wasting away. And I asked Your disciples to drive it out, and they were not able [to do it].

19 And He answered them, O unbelieving generation [without any faith]! How long [c]shall I [have to do] with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me.

20 So they brought [the boy] to Him, and when the spirit saw Him, at once it completely convulsed the boy, and he fell to the ground and kept rolling about, foaming [at the mouth].

21 And [Jesus] asked his father, How long has he had this? And he answered, From the time he was a little boy.

22 And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us.

23 And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!

24 At once the father of the boy gave [an [d]eager, [e]piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my [f]weakness of faith!

25 But when Jesus noticed that a crowd [of people] came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You dumb and deaf spirit, I charge you to come out of him and never go into him again.

26 And after giving a [hoarse, clamoring, fear-stricken] shriek of anguish and convulsing him terribly, it came out; and the boy lay [pale and motionless] like a corpse, so that many of them said, He is dead.

27 But Jesus took [[g]a strong grip of] his hand and began lifting him up, and he stood.

28 And when He had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we drive it out?

29 And He replied to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer [h]and fasting.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 9:15 Richard Trench, Notes on the Miracles.
  2. Mark 9:18 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  3. Mark 9:19 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  4. Mark 9:24 W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek New Testament.
  5. Mark 9:24 Henry Swete, The Gospel According to Saint Mark.
  6. Mark 9:24 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  7. Mark 9:27 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  8. Mark 9:29 Some manuscripts add “and fasting.”

Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit(A)

14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.(B)

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

“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”(C)

24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene,(D) he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately,(E) “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 9:29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting

13 And the Lord said to Moses,

Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader or head among them.

So Moses by the command of the Lord sent scouts from the Wilderness of Paran, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites.

These were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] son of Nun;

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi;

12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore and scout out the land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country,

18 And see what the land is and whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many,

19 And whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds,

20 And what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. And be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and scouted through the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.

22 And then went up into the South (the Negeb) and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai [probably three tribes of] the sons of Anak were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two [of them]; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.

24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut down there.

25 And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.

26 They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land’s fruit.

27 They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.

28 But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are [a]fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage].

29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River].

30 Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.

31 But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are.

32 So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

33 There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:28 The scouts probably had not seen walled cities before, having lived their childhood in Goshen in Egypt. Those who forgot God’s power to help them naturally found the situation formidable, as happens in the lives of most people. “ ‘But God’ makes all the difference between cowards and Calebs.”

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore(A) the land of Canaan,(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.(C) From each ancestral tribe(D) send one of its leaders.”

So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(I) the name Joshua.)(J)

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev(L) and on into the hill country.(M) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(O)

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(P) as far as Rehob,(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.(R) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(T) the descendants of Anak,(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(V) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(X) and figs.(Y) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(Z) they returned from exploring the land.(AA)

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(AB) in the Desert of Paran.(AC) There they reported to them(AD) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(AE) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(AF) Here is its fruit.(AG) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(AH) We even saw descendants of Anak(AI) there.(AJ) 29 The Amalekites(AK) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(AL) Jebusites(AM) and Amorites(AN) live in the hill country;(AO) and the Canaanites(AP) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(AQ)

30 Then Caleb(AR) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(AS) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(AT) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(AU) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(AV) 33 We saw the Nephilim(AW) there (the descendants of Anak(AX) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(AY) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.