Mark 6:45-9:50

New Living Translation

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^[a] 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!^[b]” 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.

Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

7 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. ² They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. ³ (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,^[c] as required by their ancient traditions. ⁴ Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands^[d] in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.^[e])

⁵ So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

⁶ Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

⁸ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

⁹ Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. ¹⁰ For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’^[g] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’^{[h] 11} But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’^{[i] 12} In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. ¹³ And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

¹⁴ Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. ¹⁵ It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.^[j]”

¹⁷ Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. ¹⁸ “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? ¹⁹ Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

²⁰ And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. ²¹ For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

The Faith of a Gentile Woman

²⁴ Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.^[k] He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. ²⁵ Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil^[l] spirit, ²⁶ and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, ²⁷ Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews.^[m] It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

²⁹ “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

³¹ Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.^{[n] 32} A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

³³ Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” ³⁵ Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

³⁶ Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. ³⁷ They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

8 About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, ² “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴ His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”

⁵ Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they replied.

⁶ So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. ⁷ A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

⁸ They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. ⁹ There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. ¹⁰ Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

Pharisees Demand a Miraculous Sign

¹¹ When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

¹² When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” ¹³ So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.

Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴ But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. ¹⁵ As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

¹⁶ At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. ¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ¹⁸ ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’^[o] Don’t you remember anything at all? ¹⁹ When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”

“Twelve,” they said.

²⁰ “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹ “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

²² When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. ²³ Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”

²⁴ The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

²⁵ Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

²⁹ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.^[p]”

³⁰ But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Predicts His Death

³¹ Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man^[q] must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. ³² As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.^[r]

³³ Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

³⁴ Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. ³⁵ If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. ³⁶ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?^{[s] 37} Is anything worth more than your soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

9 Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”

The Transfiguration

² Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, ³ and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. ⁴ Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials^[t]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.

⁷ Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” ⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

⁹ As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man^[u] had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”

¹¹ Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?^[v]”

¹² Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt? ¹³ But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.”

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

¹⁴ When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.

¹⁶ “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷ One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.^[w] So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them,^[x] “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰ So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.

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

He replied, “Since he was a little boy. ²² The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil^[y] spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”

²⁶ Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

²⁸ Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.^[z]”

Jesus Again Predicts His Death

³⁰ Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, ³¹ for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” ³² They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

³³ After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” ³⁴ But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

³⁶ Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf^[aa] welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

Using the Name of Jesus

³⁸ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”

³⁹ “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ Anyone who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.

⁴² “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell^[ab] with two hands.^{[ac] 45} If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.^{[ad] 47} And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’^[ae]

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be tested with fire.^{[af] 50} Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”