Mark 8
Worldwide English (New Testament)
8 Again at that time many, many people came together. They had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples. He said,
2 `I share the suffering of the people. They have been with me for three days and they have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they will get weak and fall on the way. Some of them have come a long way.'
4 His disciples answered, `Where can anyone get enough food in this lonely place to feed so many people?'
5 Jesus asked them, `How many loaves of bread have you?' They said, `Seven.'
6 He told the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves of bread and thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples. They gave it to the people.
7 They had a few small fish. Jesus told the disciples to divide the fish among the people also.
8 The people ate and had enough. They gathered seven baskets full of pieces that were left.
9 The number of men who ate was about four thousand.
10 Jesus sent them away. Then right away he got in the boat with his disciples and went to the country around Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus. They wanted to test him. So they asked him to show them a sign from the sky.
12 He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, `Why do people today want a sign? I tell you the truth. No sign will be given to them.'
13 He left them and went to the other side in a boat.
14 The disciples forgot to take food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.
15 Jesus said, `Watch! Take care. Do not let the bread yeast of the Pharisees and Herod spoil you.'
16 The disciples talked to one another about the matter. They said, `He says that because we have no bread.'
17 Jesus knew what they were saying. He asked, `Why are you saying, "We have no bread"? Do you not yet understand? Are your minds so slow?
18 Can you not see with your eyes or hear with your ears? Do you not remember?
19 When I broke five loaves for five thousand people, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather?' They said, `Twelve.'
20 He said, `When I broke seven loaves for four thousand people, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather?' They said, `Seven.'
21 He said to them, `How is it that you do not yet understand?'
22 Then they came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus. They begged him to touch the man.
23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. He spat on his eyes and put his hands on him. Then he asked, `Do you see anything?'
24 The man looked up and said, `I see men, but they look like trees that are walking.'
25 Jesus put his hands on him again. He made him look up. Then he was healed and could see everybody clearly.
26 Jesus sent the man away to his home. `Do not go into the village and do not tell it to anyone,' he said.
27 Jesus went with his disciples to the villages in Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, `Who do people say that I am?'
28 They answered, `People say that you are John the Baptizer. Others say that you are Elijah. And others say that you are one of the prophets from long ago.'
29 Then he asked them, `But who do you say I am?' Peter answered, `You are the Christ.'
30 Jesus said to them, `Do not tell anyone about me.'
31 Then he began to teach them. He said, `The Son of Man will have much trouble. The leaders, the chief priests, and the scribes will not believe him. He will be killed. After three days he will rise.'
32 Jesus said this very plainly. Peter took him to one side and began to tell him not to say such things.
33 Jesus turned around and saw the disciples. Then he talked to Peter. He said, `Get away from me, Satan! You are not thinking the way God thinks, but the way people think.'
34 Jesus called the people and the disciples to him. He said, `If anyone wants to come with me he must leave what he himself wants to do. He must be ready to carry his own cross and come with me.
35 Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life for my sake and for the sake of the good news will find it.
36 What good will it do a man if he gets the whole world for himself but loses his soul?
37-38 hat can a person give to get back his soul? People have gone away from God and are full of wrong ways. If anyone in this time is ashamed of me and the things I say, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of that person when he comes. The Son of Man will come with his holy angels, and be great like his Father.'
Mark 8
The Message
A Meal for Four Thousand
8 1-3 At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”
5 He asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they said.
6-10 So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.
11-12 When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”
Contaminating Yeast
13-15 He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”
16-19 Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
They said, “Twelve.”
20 “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”
“Seven.”
21 He said, “Do you still not get it?”
22-23 They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
24-26 He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.”
The Messiah
27 Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, “Who do the people say I am?”
28 “Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”
29 He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”
Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”
30-32 Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.
32-33 But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.”
34-37 Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
38 “If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson