Mark 8
New King James Version
Feeding the Four Thousand(A)
8 In those days, (B)the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 “I have (C)compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”
4 Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
5 (D)He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven.”
6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish; and (E)having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 (F)immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees Seek a Sign(G)
11 (H)Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He (I)sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, (J)no sign shall be given to this generation.”
Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod(K)
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 (L)Now [a]the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 (M)Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the [b]leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? (N)Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart [c]still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 (O)When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, (P)when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it (Q)you do not understand?”
A Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida
22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a (R)blind man to Him, and begged Him to (S)touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when (T)He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, [d]“Neither go into the town, (U)nor tell anyone in the town.”
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ(V)
27 (W)Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”
28 So they answered, (X)“John the Baptist; but some say, (Y)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said to Him, (Z)“You are the Christ.”
30 (AA)Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection(AB)
31 And (AC)He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be (AD)rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be (AE)killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He (AF)rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not [e]mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Take Up the Cross and Follow Him(AG)
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, (AH)“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For (AI)whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 (AJ)For whoever (AK)is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8
New American Standard Bible
Four Thousand Men Fed
8 In those days, (A)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, 2 “(B)I feel compassion for the [a]people because they have remained with Me for three days already 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 a great distance.” 4 And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough [b]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6 And He *directed the [c]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the [d]people. 7 They also had a few small fish; and (C)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. 8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large (D)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9 About four thousand [e]men were there; and He dismissed them. 10 And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of (E)Dalmanutha.
11 (F)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, (G)demanding from Him a [f]sign from heaven, [g]to test Him. 12 (H)Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a [h]sign? Truly I say to you, [i](I)no [j]sign will be given to this generation!” 13 And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.
14 And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “(J)Watch out! Beware of the [k]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of (K)Herod.” 16 And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? (L)Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart [l]hardened? 18 (M)Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke (N)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many (O)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke (P)the seven for the four thousand, how many large (Q)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “(R)Do you not yet understand?”
22 And they *came to (S)Bethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to [m]Jesus and *begged Him to (T)touch him. 23 Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He (U)brought him out of the village; and after (V)spitting in his eyes and (W)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he [n]looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. 26 And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter (X)the village.”
Peter’s Confession of Christ
27 (Y)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of (Z)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 (AA)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” (AB)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the [o]Christ.” 30 And (AC)He [p]warned them to tell no one about Him.
31 (AD)And He began to teach them that (AE)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32 And He was stating the matter (AF)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, (AG)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on [q]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”
34 And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, (AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For (AI)whoever wants to save his [r]life will lose it, but whoever loses his [s]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? 38 For (AJ)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, (AK)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He (AL)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Footnotes
- Mark 8:2 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:4 Lit loaves
- Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:9 I.e., 4,000 men plus women and children, cf. Matt 15:38
- Mark 8:11 I.e., confirming miracle
- Mark 8:11 Lit testing Him
- Mark 8:12 I.e., confirming miracle
- Mark 8:12 Lit if a sign shall be given, a very strong refusal
- Mark 8:12 I.e., confirming miracle
- Mark 8:15 I.e., fermented dough
- Mark 8:17 Or dull, insensible
- Mark 8:22 Lit Him
- Mark 8:24 Or gained sight
- Mark 8:29 I.e., Messiah
- Mark 8:30 Or strictly admonished
- Mark 8:33 Lit the things of God
- Mark 8:35 Or soul
- Mark 8:35 Or soul
Mark 8
New Testament for Everyone
The feeding of the four thousand
8 Once again, about that time, a large crowd gathered with nothing to eat.
Jesus called the disciples.
2 “I’m really sorry for the people,” he said. “They’ve been with me three days now, and they haven’t got anything to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they’ll collapse on the way. Some of them have come from miles off.”
4 “Where could you get food for all this lot, out here in the wilderness?” answered his disciples.
5 “How many loaves have you got?” he asked. “Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to share around, and they gave them to the crowd. 7 They had a few small fish, which he also blessed and told them to distribute. 8 They ate; they were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets of leftover bits. 9 There were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
10 At once Jesus got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanoutha.
The leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
11 The Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus. They were asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him out.
12 Jesus groaned deeply in his spirit. “Why is this generation looking for a sign?” he said. “I’m telling you the truth: no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 He left them again, got into the boat, and crossed over to the other side.
14 They had forgotten to get any bread, and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15 “Beware!” said Jesus sternly to them. “Watch out for leaven—the Pharisees’ leaven, and Herod’s leaven too!”
16 “It must be something to do with us not having any bread,” they said to each other.
17 “Why are you grumbling about not bringing bread?” said Jesus, who knew what they were thinking. “Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand? Have your hearts gone hard?
18 Can’t you see with your two good eyes?
Can’t you hear with your two good ears?
“And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken bits were left over?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20 “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many baskets full of bits were left over?”
“Seven,” they replied.
21 “You still don’t get it?” he asked.
Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ messiahship
22 They arrived at Bethsaida. A blind man was brought to Jesus, and they begged him to touch him. 23 He took his hand, led him off outside the village, and put spittle on his eyes. Then he laid his hands on him, and asked, “Can you see anything?”
24 “I can see people,” said the man, peering around, “but they look like trees walking about.”
25 Then Jesus laid his hands on him once more. This time he looked hard, and his sight came back: he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him back home.
“Don’t even go into the village,” he said.
27 Jesus and his disciples came to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who are people saying that I am?”
28 “John the Baptist,” they said, “or, some say, Elijah; or, others say, one of the prophets.”
29 “What about you?” asked Jesus. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter spoke up. “You’re the Messiah,” he said.
30 He gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus predicts his death
31 Jesus now began to teach them something new.
“There’s big trouble in store for the son of man,” he said. “The elders, the chief priests and the scribes are going to reject him. He will be killed—and after three days he’ll be raised.” 32 He said all this quite explicitly.
At this, Peter took him aside and started to scold him. 33 But he turned round, saw the disciples, and scolded Peter.
“Get behind me, Accuser!” he said. “You’re thinking human thoughts, not God’s thoughts.”
34 He called the crowd to him, with his disciples. “If any of you want to come the way I’m going,” he said, “you must say ‘no’ to your own selves, pick up your cross, and follow me. 35 Yes: if you want to save your life, you’ll lose it; but if you lose your life because of me and the message you’ll save it. 36 After all, what use is it to win the world and lose your life? 37 What can you give in exchange for your life? 38 If you’re ashamed of me and my words in this cheating and sinning generation, the son of man will be ashamed of you when he ‘comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
