Mark 16
EasyEnglish Bible
Jesus becomes alive again
16 After the day of rest had finished, the women bought some spices. They wanted to mix these with some oil to put on Jesus' body.[a] These women were Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James. 2 They went out at dawn on the first day of the week, Sunday. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put Jesus' dead body.
3 The women asked each other, ‘Who will roll away the heavy stone for us? It closes the hole in the rock where they put Jesus' dead body.’
4 Then they looked and they saw the stone. It was a very big stone. But someone had already rolled it away from the hole. 5 When the women went into the hole in the rock, they saw a young man there.[b] He was sitting in there on the right side and he wore bright white clothes. The women were very afraid.
6 The young man said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth. The soldiers killed him on a cross, but he has become alive again. He is not here. Look! You can see the place where the men put him. 7 But now you must go to tell his disciples and Peter about this.[c] Tell them, “Jesus is going to Galilee and you must also go there. You will see him there, just as he told you it would happen.” ’
8 Then the women went out of the hole in the rock, and they ran away from that place. They were very upset and they had trouble in their minds. Because they were afraid, they did not say anything to anyone.
The end of Mark's book
9 [d] [Jesus became alive again early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary from Magdala. Jesus had caused seven bad spirits to leave her. 10 She went to the people who had been with Jesus. They were all very sad and they were crying. Mary spoke to them. 11 She told them that Jesus was alive. And she told them that she had seen him. But they did not believe it.
12 After these things had happened, Jesus appeared to two other disciples. They were walking away from Jerusalem to their village. It seemed to them that Jesus was different. 13 Those two disciples went and told all the other disciples. But the other disciples did not believe them.
14 After that, Jesus appeared to the 11 apostles while they were eating. He told them that they were wrong not to believe. They should have been ready to believe. People had seen that he was now alive again. But the disciples had not believed them.
15 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Go to all people everywhere in the world. Tell God's good news to everyone. 16 If a person believes in me, then you should baptize that person. And God will save that person. But if a person does not believe, God will judge that person to be guilty. 17 These miracles will happen when people believe in me. On my behalf, they will send bad spirits out of people. They will speak new languages. 18 If they pick up a snake, it will not hurt them. If they drink poison, it will not hurt them. They will put their hands on ill people, and God will make those people well.’
Jesus goes up to heaven
19 So, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to the disciples, God took him up into heaven. There he sat down at the right side of God.
20 The disciples went out everywhere. They told people God's good news. The Lord worked with them. He did powerful things to show that the message which they spoke was true.]
Footnotes
- 16:1 The Jews rested on Saturdays until the sun went down. The women had bought the spices after that, during Saturday evening. The Jews always put these spices on a dead body when they buried it.
- 16:5 This young man was an angel.
- 16:7 Peter had said three times that he did not know Jesus. So maybe Peter thought that he was not still a disciple. But the angel's words included Peter. So Peter would know that Jesus still wanted him to be his disciple.
- 16:9 Some important copies of Mark's Gospel do not have verses 9-20. But many copies do have these verses.
Mark 16
Easy-to-Read Version
News That Jesus Has Risen From Death(A)
16 The next day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on that day, the first day of the week, the women were going to the tomb. It was very early after sunrise. 3 The women said to each other, “There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?”
4 Then the women looked and saw that the stone was moved. The stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance. 5 The women walked into the tomb and saw a young man there wearing a white robe. He was sitting on the right side of the tomb. The women were afraid.
6 But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the one who was killed on a cross. He has risen from death! He is not here. Look, here is the place they put him when he was dead. 7 Now go and tell his followers. And be sure to tell Peter. Tell them, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee and will be there before you come. You will see him there, as he told you before.’”
8 The women were very afraid and confused. They left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell about what happened, because they were afraid.[a]
Some Followers See Jesus(B)
9 Jesus rose from death early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past Jesus had forced seven demons out of Mary. 10 After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers. They were very sad and were crying. 11 But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen Jesus, but they did not believe her.
12 Later, Jesus appeared to two followers while they were walking in the country. But Jesus did not look the same as before he was killed. 13 These followers went back to the other followers and told them what happened. Again, the followers did not believe them.
Jesus Talks to His Followers(C)
14 Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven followers while they were eating. He criticized them because they had so little faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe the people who said Jesus had risen from death.
15 He said to them, “Go everywhere in the world. Tell the Good News to everyone. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But those who do not believe will be judged guilty. 17 And the people who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force demons out of people. They will speak in languages they never learned. 18 If they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be hurt. They will lay their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Jesus Goes Back to Heaven(D)
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven. There, Jesus sat at the right side of God. 20 The followers went everywhere in the world telling people the Good News, and the Lord helped them. By giving them power to do miracles the Lord proved that their message was true.
Footnotes
- Mark 16:8 Some of the oldest Greek copies end the book here. A few later copies have this shorter ending: “But they soon gave all the instructions to Peter and those with him. After that Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the holy message that will never change—that people can be saved forever.”
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