Mark 8
World English Bible
8 In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to himself and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long way.”
4 His disciples answered him, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven.”
6 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to serve, and they served the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish. Having blessed them, he said to serve these also. 8 They ate and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over. 9 Those who had eaten were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.
10 Immediately he entered into the boat with his disciples and came into the region of Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven and testing him. 12 He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation[a] seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
13 He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side. 14 They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet or understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”
They told him, “Twelve.”
20 “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”
They told him, “Seven.”
21 He asked them, “Don’t you understand yet?”
22 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
24 He looked up, and said, “I see men, but I see them like walking trees.”
25 Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly. 26 He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”
27 Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”
28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”
29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about him. 31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke to them openly. Peter took him and began to rebuke him. 33 But he, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.”
34 He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Footnotes
- 8:12 The word translated “generation” here (genea) could also be translated “people”, “race”, or “family”.
Mark 8
English Standard Version
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
8 (A)In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 (B)“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, (C)“Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and (D)having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And (E)having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And (F)they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, (G)seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into (H)the boat with his disciples and went to the district of (I)Dalmanutha.[a]
The Pharisees Demand a Sign
11 (J)The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, (K)seeking from him (L)a sign from heaven (M)to test him. 12 And (N)he sighed deeply (O)in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And (P)he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; (Q)beware of (R)the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of (S)Herod.”[b] 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And (T)Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? (U)Do you not yet perceive (V)or understand? (W)Are your hearts hardened? 18 (X)Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke (Y)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And (Z)the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 And they came (AA)to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And (AB)he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when (AC)he had (AD)spit on his eyes and (AE)laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus[c] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, (AF)“Do not even enter the village.”
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
27 (AG)And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, (AH)“John the Baptist; and others say, (AI)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, (AJ)“You are (AK)the Christ.” 30 (AL)And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
31 (AM)And he began to teach them that (AN)the Son of Man must (AO)suffer many things and (AP)be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and (AQ)after three days rise again. 32 And he said this (AR)plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, (AS)“Get behind me, Satan! For you (AT)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him (AU)deny himself and (AV)take up his cross and follow me. 35 For (AW)whoever would save his life[d] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake (AX)and the gospel's will save it. 36 (AY)For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For (AZ)what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For (BA)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this (BB)adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed (BC)when he comes in the glory of his Father with (BD)the holy angels.”
Mark 8
Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Feeds More Than 4000(A)
8 Another time there were many people with Jesus. The people had nothing to eat. So he called his followers to him and said, 2 “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. 3 I should not send them home hungry. If they leave without eating, they will faint on the way home. Some of them live a long way from here.”
4 Jesus’ followers answered, “But we are far away from any towns. Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people?”
5 Then Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves of bread.”
6 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread into pieces and gave them to his followers. He told them to give the bread to the people, and they did as he said. 7 The followers also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for the fish and told them to give the fish to the people.
8 They all ate until they were full. Then the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were left. 9 There were about 4000 men who ate. After they ate, Jesus told them to go home. 10 Then he went in a boat with his followers to the area of Dalmanutha.
Some People Doubt Jesus’ Authority(B)
11 The Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him questions. They wanted to test him. So they asked him to do a miracle as a sign from God. 12 Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why do you people ask to see a miracle as a sign? I want you to know that no miracle will be done to prove anything to you.” 13 Then Jesus left them and went in the boat to the other side of the lake.
Jesus’ Followers Misunderstand Him(C)
14 The followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. They forgot to bring more bread. 15 Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 The followers discussed the meaning of this. They said, “He said this because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus knew that the followers were talking about this. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are you not able to understand? 18 Do you have eyes that can’t see? Do you have ears that can’t hear? Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? 19 I divided five loaves of bread for 5000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
The followers answered, “We filled twelve baskets.”
20 “And when I divided seven loaves of bread for 4000 people, how many baskets did you fill with the leftover pieces?”
They answered, “We filled seven baskets.”
21 Then he said to them, “You remember these things I did, but you still don’t understand?”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man in Bethsaida
22 Jesus and his followers came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch the man. 23 So Jesus held the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on the man’s eyes. He laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see now?”
24 The man looked up and said, “Yes, I see people. They look like trees walking around.”
25 Again Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes, and the man opened them wide. His eyes were healed, and he was able to see everything clearly. 26 Jesus told him to go home. He said, “Don’t go into the town.”
Peter Says Jesus Is the Messiah(D)
27 Jesus and his followers went to the towns in the area of Caesarea Philippi. While they were traveling, Jesus asked the followers, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say you are one of the prophets.”
29 Then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus told the followers, “Don’t tell anyone who I am.”
Jesus Says He Must Die(E)
31 Then Jesus began to teach his followers that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught that the Son of Man would not be accepted by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He said that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from death after three days. 32 Jesus told them everything that would happen. He did not keep anything secret.
Peter took Jesus away from the other followers to talk to him alone. Peter criticized him for saying these things. 33 But Jesus turned and looked at his followers. Then he criticized Peter. He said to Peter, “Get away from me, Satan[a]! You don’t care about the same things God does. You care only about things that people think are important.”
34 Then Jesus called the crowd and his followers to him. He said, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. 35 Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me and for the Good News will save it. 36 It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. 37 You could never pay enough to buy back your life. 38 People today are so sinful. They have not been faithful to God. As you live among them, don’t be ashamed of me and my teaching. If that happens, I[b] will be ashamed of you when I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels.”
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International