A young man named John Mark wrote down

stories Peter told about Jesus.

Why was this book written?

Mark

Who wrote this book?

Mark shows people who Jesus is by telling what

Jesus did.

For whom was this book written?

Mark wrote this book for Gentiles (people who

were not Jews).

What happens in this book?

Jesus shows his power by performing miracles

that help people, and he teaches his disciples.

Who is the key person in this book?

Jesus is the most important person in this book.

When did this happen?

Jesus worked miracles and taught from a.d. 26

to 30.

Where did this happen?

Most events in Mark 19 happened in Galilee.

Most events in Mark 1016 took place in or
near Jerusalem.

What are some of the stories in this book?

Jesus heals a paralyzed man Mark 2:112
Jesus calms a storm

Mark 4:3541

Jesus raises a dead girl

Mark 5:2143

Jesus walks on water

Mark 6:4556

Jesus feeds 4,000 people

Mark 8:110

Jesus heals a young boy

Mark 9:1432

Jesus holds the Last Supper

Mark 14:1226

Jesus dies and is buried

Mark 15:2147

Jesus is raised again

Mark 16:18

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1094

Mark 1

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

The beg inn ing of the good news about

Jesus the Messia h, a the Son of God,b 2as
it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your wayc
3 a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.d
4And so John the Baptist app eared in the
wilderness, preaching a bapt ism of repen
tance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole
Judean countryside and all the people of Je
rusalem went out to him. Confessing t heir
sins, they were bapt ized by him in the Jor
dan River. 6John wore clothing made of cam
els hair, with a leather belt a round his waist,
and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7And this
was his message: After me comes the one
more powerful than I, the straps of whose
sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
unt ie. 8I bapt ize you withe water, but he will
bapt ize you withe the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist

God sent John the Baptist to tell
people that Jesus the Savior was
coming. John faithfully followed
God. He baptized many people and
told them to ask God to forgive
their sins. Jesus came to be baptized,
and, even though Jesus had never
sinned, John obeyed his request.
12At once the Spirit sent him out into the
wilderness, 13and he was in the wilderness
for t y days, bei ng tempted f by Satan. He
was with the wild animals, and angels at
tended him.

Jesus Announces the Good News

14Af
t er John was put in prison, Jesus
went into Galilee, proclaiming the good
9At that time J
esus came from Naza reth news of God. 15The time has come, he
in Galilee and was bapt ized by John in the said. The kingdom of God has come near.
Jordan. 10Just as J esus was coming up out Repent and bel ieve the good news!
of the water, he saw heaven being torn
open and the Spirit descending on him like a1OrJesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew)band Christ
(Greek) both mean Anointed One. 1Some
a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: manuscripts
do not have the Son of God. c2Mal.
You are my Son, whom I love; with you I 3:1 d3Isaiah 40:3 e8Orin f13TheGreek
am well pleased.
for tempted can also mean tested.

The Baptism and Testing ofJesus

Fishing

In the first century fishermen in

boats worked on the Sea of Galilee. The fish they caught in their
nets were salted or dried and
then sold all through the Holy
Land. Jesus called his first disciples to be fishers of people instead of fishers of fish (Mark
1:1618).

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Mark 1

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

16As

J esus w
alked beside the Sea of Gal
ilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew
casting a net into the lake, for they were
fishermen. 17Come, follow me, J esus said,
and I will send you out to fish for people.
18At once they left t heir nets and followed
him.
19When he had gone a litt le fart her, he
saw J ames son of Zebedee and his brother
John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20With
out delay he called them, and they left t heir
fat her Zebedee in the boat with the h ired
men and followed him.

Jesus Drives Out an ImpureSpirit

1095

man violently and came out of him with a

shriek.
27The peo
ple were all so a mazed that
they a sked each other, What is this? A
new teachi ng and with aut hor it y! He
even g ives orders to imp ure spirits and
they obey him. 28News about him spread
quickly over the whole reg ion of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

29As soon as they left the syn

a gogue,
they went with James and John to the home
of Simon and Andrew. 30Simons mother-inlaw was in bed with a fever, and they imme
diately told Jesus about her. 31So he went to
her, took her hand and h
elped her up. The
fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32That even ing after suns et the people
brought to Jesus all the sick and demonpossessed. 33The w
hole town gathered at
the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had
various diseases. He also d rove out many
demons, but he would not let the demons
speak because they knew who he was.

21They went to Ca
p ernau m, and when
the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the syn
agogue and began to teach. 22The people
were a mazed at his teaching, bec ause he
t aught them as one who had aut horit y, not
as the teachers of the law. 23Just then a man
in t heir synagogue who was possessed by
an impure spirit c ried out, 24What do you
want with us, Jesus of Naza reth? Have you
come to destroy us? I know who you are Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35Very early in the morning, while it was
the Holy One of God!
25Be quiet! said Jesus sternly. Come s
till dark, Jesus got up, left the house and
out of him! 26The impure spirit shook the went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Reach Out to Others

Leprosy is a terrible disease. A lepers skin has open sores.
In Bible times a person with leprosy was considered
unclean and could not worship God with other people
or even live in town. Because of the disease, no one
would come near a leper.
Read Mark 1:4042. Jesus showed that he cared for
this leper by touching him and healing him.
Write down the names of a couple of children you
know who might feel as lonely as the leper. Then answer
these three questions:

Mark 1:4042

1. Why is he or she left alone? (Because he or she is not nice, is dirty, doesnt wear
nice clothes, hits people, looks or acts different?)
2. How do you think he or she feels? (Happy, lonely, afraid, proud, sad, angry,
stuck-up, or maybe some other feeling?)
3. How could you show that Jesus cares? (Smile, talk to him, ask her to sit with
you at lunch, pick him for your team, tell others to stop being mean?)

What will you do to show that Jesus still cares about the lonely today?

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1096

Mark 12

36Simon and his companions went to look

for him, 37and when they found him, they
exclaimed: Everyone is looking for you!
38Jesus replied, Let us go somew here
elseto the nearby village sso I can
p reach there also. That is why I have
come. 39So he traveled throughout Gal
ilee, preachi ng in t heir synagogues and
driv ing out demons.

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

40A man with leprosya came to him and

egged him on his k nees, If you are will
b
ing, you can make me clean.
41Jesus was ind ig nant. b He reached out
his hand and touched the man. I am will
ing, he said. Be c lean! 42Immediately the
leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43Jesus sent him away at once with a
ont tell
strong warni ng: 44See that you d
this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the
priest and of fer the sacr i f ices that Moses
commanded for your cleansing, as a test i
mony to them. 45Instead he went out and
began to talk freely, spreading the news.
As a result, Jesus c ould no longer enter
a town openly but stayed outside in lone
ly places. Yet the people still came to him
from every where.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

A few days later, when J esus a gain en

tered Cap er n au m, the people heard
that he had come home. 2They gathered
in such large numbers that there was no
room left, not even outside the door, and

he preached the word to them. 3Some men

came, bringing to him a para lyzed man,
carr ied by four of them. 4Since they c ould
not get him to J esus because of the c rowd,
they made an opening in the roof above
Jesus by digg ing t hrough it and then low
ered the mat the man was lying on. 5When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the para
lyzed man, Son, your sins are forg iven.
6Now some teachers of the law were sit
ting t here, thinking to themselves, 7Why
does this fellow talk like that? Hes blas
pheming! Who can forg ive sins but God
alone?
8Im med ia tel y Jesus knew in his spir it
that this was what they were thinking in
their hearts, and he said to them, Why are
you thinking these things? 9Which is easi
er: to say to this paralyzed man, Your sins
are forg iven, or to say, Get up, take your
mat and walk? 10But I want you to know
that the Son of Man has authorit y on e arth
to forgive sins. So he said to the man, 11I
tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.
12He got up, took his mat and walked out in
full view of them all. This a mazed everyone
and they praised God, saying, We have
never seen anything like this!

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

13Once a
gain Jesus went out beside the
lake. A large c rowd came to him, and he
a40 TheGreek word traditionally translated
leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the
skin. b41 Many manuscripts Jesus was filled with
compassion

House Roofs

House roofs in New Testament times

were made by laying branches over
roof beams. Mud was packed over the
branches. The friends who carried a
paralyzed man to Jesus dug through
the mud roof of a house and lowered
the sick man into the room where
Jesus was teaching.

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Mark 23
began to teach them. 14As he walked a long,
he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitt ing at the
tax collect ors booth. Fol low me, Jesus
told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15While J
esus was having dinner at Le
vis house, many tax collectors and sinners
were eating with him and his disc iples,
for there were many who followed him.
16When the teachers of the law who were
Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners
and tax collectors, they asked his disciples:
Why does he eat with tax collectors and
sinners?
17On heari ng this, Jesus said to them, It
is not the h
ealthy who need a doctor, but
the sick. I have not come to call the righ
teous, but sinners.

1097

was made for man, not man for the Sab

bath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of
the Sabbath.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

Another time Jesus went into the syn

agogue, and a man with a shriveled
hand was t here. 2Some of them were look
ing for a reason to acc use Jesus, so they
watched him closely to see if he would heal
him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man
with the shriveled hand, Stand up in f ront
of everyone.
4Then Jesus a
sked them, Which is law
ful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil,
to save life or to kill? But they remained
silent.
5He looked a round at them in anger and,
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
deeply dist ressed at t heir stubborn hearts,
18Now Johns disciples and the Pharisees said to the man, Stretch out your hand.
were fasting. Some people came and asked He s tretched it out, and his hand was com
Jesus, How is it that J ohns disciples and pletely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went
the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, out and began to plot with the Herod ia ns
how they m
ight kill Jesus.
but y ours are not?
19Jesus ans wered, How can the g uests
of the brideg room fast while he is with Crowds Follow Jesus
7Jesus with
them? They cannot, so long as they have
d rew with his disc iples to
him with them. 20But the time will come the lake, and a large c rowd from Galilee
when the brideg room will be taken from fol lowed. 8When they heard a bout all he
them, and on that day they will fast.
was doing, many people came to him from
21No one sews a
p atch of unshrunk Judea, Jer usalem, Idumea, and the reg ions
cloth on an old garment. Otherw ise, the across the Jordan and a round Tyre and Si
new p
iece will pull away from the old, mak don. 9Because of the c rowd he told his dis
ing the tear worse. 22And no one pours ciples to have a small boat ready for him, to
new wine into old wineskins. Otherw ise, keep the people from crowding him. 10For
ealed many, so that t hose with dis
the wine will burst the skins, and both the he had h
wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, eases were pushing forward to touch him.
11When
ever the impure spirits saw him,
they pour new wine into new wineskins.
they fell down before him and c ried out,
You are the Son of God. 12But he gave
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23One Sabbath Jesus was goi ng t hrough them strict orders not to tell others about
the grainf ields, and as his disciples walked him.
a long, they began to pick some heads of
g rain. 24The Pharisees said to him, Look, Jesus Appoints the Twelve
13Jesus went up on a mount ains ide and
why are they doing what is unlawf ul on the
c alled to him those he wanted, and they
Sabbath?
25He an
swered, Have you never read came to him. 14He appointed t welve a that
what Dav id did when he and his compan they m ight be with him and that he m ight
ions were hung ry and in need? 26In the send them out to preach 15and to have au
days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered thor it y to d rive out demons. 16These are
the house of God and ate the consecrated the t welve he appointed: Simon (to whom
bread, which is lawf ul only for priests to eat. he gave the name Peter), 17James son of
And he also gave some to his companions. a14 Some manuscripts twelvedesignating them
27Then he said to them, The Sabbath apostles

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1098

Mark 34

never be forg iven; they are g uilty of an

eternal sin.
30He said this bec ause they were sayi ng,
He has an impure spirit.
31Then J
esus mother and brothers ar
rived. Standing outside, they sent someone
in to call him. 32A crowd was sitt ing a round
him, and they told him, Your mother and
Jesus Accused by His Family and
brothers are outside looking for you.
by Teachers of the Law
33Who are my moth
er and my broth
20Then Jesus ent ered a h
ouse, and a gain ers? he asked.
a c rowd gathered, so that he and his disci
34Then he
looked at those seated in a
ples were not even able to eat. 21When his circle a round him and said, Here are my
a
family heard a bout this, they went to take mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does
charge of him, for they said, He is out of G ods will is my brother and sister and
his mind.
mother.
22And the teachers of the law who came
down from Jerus alem said, He is pos The Parable of the Sower
sessed by Beelz ebul! By the prince of de
Again J esus began to teach by the lake.
mons he is driving out demons.
The c rowd that gathered a round him
23So J
esus c alled them over to him and was so large that he got into a boat and sat
began to speak to them in parables: How in it out on the lake, w
hile all the people
can Sat an drive out Sat an? 24If a kingdom were a long the shore at the waters edge.
is div ided against itself, that kingdom can 2He t aught them many t hings by parables,
ouse is div ided a gainst and in his teaching said: 3Listen! A farmer
not stand. 25If a h
its elf, that house cannot stand. 26And if went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scat
Sat an opp oses himself and is div ided, he tering the seed, some fell a long the path,
cannot stand; his end has come. 27In fact, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell
no one can enter a strong m
ans house with on r ocky places, w
here it did not have much
out first tying him up. Then he can plun soil. It s prang up quickly, because the soil
der the strong m
ans h
ouse. 28Truly I tell was shal low. 6But when the sun came up,
you, people can be forg iven all their sins the p
lants were s corched, and they with
and e very slander they utter, 29but whoev
er blasphemes a gainst the Holy Spirit will a21Orhis associates
Zebedee and his brother John (to them he
gave the name Boa nerges, which means
sons of thunder), 18And rew, Phil ip, Bar
tholomew, Mat t hew, Thoma s, James son
of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
19and Judas Isc ariot, who bet rayed him.

Sowing Seeds

Farmers in the first century didnt use

machines to plant, or sow, their fields
with seed. They took handfuls of seed
and, with a sweeping motion, threw it
on the ground they had plowed. A
skillful sower could spread grain seeds
very evenly.

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Mark 4
ered bec ause they had no root. 7Othe r
seed fell a mong t horns, which grew up and
choked the p
lants, so that they did not bear
g rain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It
came up, grew and produced a crop, some
mult iplying thirt y, some sixt y, some a hun
dred times.
9Then Jesus said, Whoever has ears to
hear, let them hear.
10When he was
a lone, the T
welve and
the others a round him a sked him about
the parables. 11He told them, The sec ret
of the kingdom of God has been given to
you. But to t hose on the outside everyt hing
is said in parables 12so that,
they may be ever seeing but never
perceiving,
and ever hearing but never
understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be
forgiven!a
13Then J
esus said to them, Dont you
understand this parable? How then will
you understand any parable? 14The farm
er sows the word. 15Some people are like
seed a long the path, w
here the word is
sown. As soon as they hear it, Sat an comes
and t akes away the word that was sown in
them. 16Others, like seed sown on r ocky
places, hear the word and at once receive it
with joy. 17But since they have no root, they
last only a short time. When trouble or per
sec ut ion comes because of the word, they
quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed
sown a mong t horns, hear the word; 19but
the worr ies of this life, the deceitfulness
of w
ealth and the desires for other t hings
come in and choke the word, making it un
fruit f ul. 20Others, like seed sown on good
soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce
a cropsome thirt y, some sixt y, some a
hundred t imes what was sown.

A Lamp on a Stand
21He

said to them, Do you bring in a

lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? In
stead, d
ont you put it on its stand? 22For
whateve r is hidden is meant to be dis
closed, and whatever is concealed is meant
to be brought out into the open. 23If anyone
has ears to hear, let them hear.
24Consider caref ully what you hear, he
cont inued. With the measure you use, it

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1099

will be measured to youa nd even more.

25Who
ever has will be given more; who
ever does not have, even what they have
will be taken from them.

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26He also said, This is what the king

dom of God is like. A man scatters seed
on the g
round. 27Night and day, whether
he s leeps or gets up, the seed s prouts and
g rows, t hough he does not know how. 28All
by itself the soil produces g rain f irst the
stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in
the head. 29As soon as the g rain is ripe, he
puts the sickle to it, bec ause the harvest
has come.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30Again he said, What

shall we say
the kingdom of God is like, or what para
ble shall we use to describe it? 31It is like
a mustard seed, which is the smallest of
all seeds on earth. 32Yet when planted, it
g rows and becomes the largest of all gar
den plants, with such big branches that the
birds can p
erch in its shade.
33With many sim i l ar par ab les Jesus
spoke the word to them, as much as they
c ould understand. 34He did not say any
thing to them without using a parable. But
when he was a lone with his own disciples,
he explained everyt hing.

Jesus Calms the Storm

35That day when even ing came, he said

to his disciples, Let us go over to the oth
er side. 36Leaving the crowd behind, they
took him a long, just as he was, in the boat.
T here were also other boats with him. 37A
furious squall came up, and the w aves
broke over the boat, so that it was nearly
swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleep
ing on a cushion. The disciples woke him
and said to him, Teacher, dont you care
if we drown?
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to
the waves, Quiet! Be s till! Then the wind
died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disc iples, Why are you
so a fraid? Do you still have no faith?
41They were ter
r ified and a sked each
other, Who is this? Even the wind and the
waves obey him!
a12Isaiah

6:9,10

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1100

Mark 5

Can demons really

possess people?
5:18 Demons are real, and
they can control peoples
lives and make them do evil
things. We should have
nothing to do with
demonseven pretend
demons shown in some movies. The movies people make
about demons leave out one
important fact: Even thousands of
demons cannot stand against Jesus. Jesus
protects us when we invite him into our
lives.

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

They went a cross the lake to the re

gion of the Gerasenes.a 2When Jesus
got out of the boat, a man with an impure
spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3This man lived in the t ombs, and no one
c ould bind him anymore, not even with
a chain. 4For he had often been chained
hand and foot, but he tore the c hains a part
and b
roke the irons on his feet. No one was
strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and
day a mong the tombs and in the h
ills he
would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6When he saw
Jesus from a distance,
he ran and fell on his k nees in front of
him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice,
What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of
the Most High God? In G ods name dont
tor t ure me! 8For Jesus had said to him,
Come out of this man, you impure spirit!
9Then Jesus a sked him, What is your
name?
My name is Leg ion, he replied, for we
egged Jesus a gain
are many. 10And he b
and again not to send them out of the area.
11A large herd of pigs was feed
i ng on
the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged
Jesus, Send us a mong the pigs; allow us to
go into them. 13He gave them perm ission,
and the impure spirits came out and went
into the pigs. The herd, about two thou
sand in number, r ushed down the steep
bank into the lake and were drowned.
14Those tending the pigs ran off and re

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ported this in the town and countryside,

and the people went out to see what had
happ ened. 15When they came to Jesus,
they saw the man who had been possessed
by the leg ion of demons, sitting there,
d ressed and in his r ight mind; and they
were a fraid. 16Those who had seen it told
the people what had happ ened to the de
mon-possessed mana nd told about the
pigs as well. 17Then the people began to
plead with Jesus to leave t heir reg ion.
18As J
esus was getting into the boat,
the man who had been demon-possessed
begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let
him, but said, Go home to your own peo
ple and tell them how much the Lord has
done for you, and how he has had merc y on
you. 20So the man went away and began
to tell in the Dec apolisb how much Jesus
had done for him. And all the people were
amazed.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick

Woman

21When Jesus had a gain c rossed over by

boat to the other side of the lake, a large
c rowd gathered a round him w
hile he was
by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue
leaders, named Jair us, came, and when he
saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23He pleaded
earnestly with him, My litt le daughter is
dying. P lease come and put your hands
on her so that she will be h
ealed and live.
24So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and p ressed
a round him. 25And a woma n was there
who had been subject to bleeding for
t welve years. 26She had suffered a g reat
deal under the care of many doctors and
had spent all she had, yet instead of gett ing
better she grew worse. 27When she h
eard
about Jesus, she came up behind him in the
c rowd and touched his cloak, 28bec ause
she t hought, If I just touch his c lothes, I
will be healed. 29Im med iately her bleed
ing s topped and she felt in her body that
she was f reed from her suffering.
30At once J
esus rea lized that power had
gone out from him. He turned a round in
the c rowd and a sked, Who touched my
clothes?
31You see the people crowding a gainst
a1

Some manuscripts Gadarenes; other manuscripts

Gergesenes b20 That is, the Ten Cities

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Mark 56
you, his disciples answered, and yet you
can ask, Who t ouchedme?
32But Jesus kept looking a
round to see
who had done it. 33Then the woma n, know
ing what had happ ened to her, came and
fell at his feet and, trembling with fear,
told him the whole t ruth. 34He said to her,
Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go
in peace and be f reed from your suffering.
35While J
esus was still speaking, some
people came from the h
ouse of Jair us, the
synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead,
they said. Why bother the teacher any
more?
36Overhear i ng a what they said,
Jesus
told him, Dont be a fraid; just bel ieve.
37He did not let any
one follow him ex
cept Peter, James and John the brother of
James. 38When they came to the home of
the synagogue leader, J esus saw a commo
tion, with people crying and wailing loud
ly. 39He went in and said to them, Why all
this commot ion and wailing? The child is
not dead but asleep. 40But they laughed at
him.
After he put them all out, he took the
childs fat her and mother and the disciples
who were with him, and went in w
here the
child was. 41He took her by the hand and
said to her, Talitha koum! (which means
Little girl, I say to you, get up!). 42Im
med iately the girl stood up and began to
walk a round (she was t welve years old). At
this they were completely astonished. 43He
gave strict orders not to let anyone know
about this, and told them to give her some
thing to eat.

1101

A Prophet Without Honor

Jesus left t here and went to his home

town, acc omp a n ied by his disc iples.
2When the Sab
bath came, he beg an to
teach in the syna gogue, and many who
heard him were amazed.
Where did this man get t hese t hings?
they a sked. Whats this wisdom that has
been given him? What are these remark
able miracles he is per form i ng? 3Isnt this
the carp enter? Isnt this Marys son and
the brother of J ames, Joseph,b Judas and
Simon? A
rent his sisters here with us?
And they took offense at him.
4Jesus said to them, A proph
et is not
without honor exc ept in his own town,
a mong his relat ives and in his own home.
5He could not do any miracles t here, except
lay his hands on a few sick people and heal
them. 6He was a mazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then J esus went a round teaching from

welve to
vill age to vill age. 7Calling the T
him, he began to send them out two by two
and gave them aut horit y over impure spir
its.
8These were his in
s tructions: Take
nothing for the journey exc ept a staff
no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
9Wear san
d als but not an extra shirt.
10Whenever you ent er a house, stay t here
unt il you leave that town. 11And if any place
will not welcome you or listen to you, leave
a36OrIgnoring b3Greek

Joseph

Joses, a variant of

Parents Who Pray

Read Mark 5:2123,3543. What did the father do to help
his daughter?
Pretend you are a newspaper reporter. Interview your
mother, father, or a grandparent. Ask the questions below.
Then write a story about a time someone prayed for you.
Can you remember a time when you prayed hard for
me? Why did you pray then? What did you say when you
prayed? Why was an answer to this prayer important?
How did God answer the prayer? What things do you ask
God for when you pray for me now?

Mark 5:2123,3543

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1/9/13 9:31 AM

1102

Mark 6

that place and s hake the dust off your feet

as a test imony against them.
12They went out and preached that peo
ple should repent. 13They d rove out many
demons and anointe d many sick people
with oil and healed them.

Why did Herod kill John

the Baptist?
6:26 King Herod made a fool-

ish promise to give a dancing

girl anything she wanted.
She asked for the head of
John the Baptist. The king
knew that it was wrong to
kill John, but he worried
about what his friends would
think if he broke his promise.
King Herod committed a terrible
sin just so he wouldnt be embarrassed.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14King Herod h
eard about this, for Jesus
name had become well k nown. Some were
saying, a John the Bapt ist has been raised
from the dead, and that is why miraculous
powers are at work in him.
15Others said, He is Elijah.
And s till others claimed, He is a proph
et, like one of the prophets of long ago.
16But when Her
od heard this, he said,
John, whom I beheaded, has been r aised
from the dead!
17For Herod himself had given orders to
have John arrested, and he had him bound
and put in prison. He did this bec ause of
Herodias, his brother Phil ips wife, whom
he had marr ied. 18For John had been say
ing to Herod, It is not lawf ul for you to have
your brothers wife. 19So Herodias nursed
a g rudge against John and wanted to kill
him. But she was not able to, 20because Her
od f eared John and protected him, knowing
him to be a righteous and holy man. When
Herod h
eard John, he was greatly puzzledb;
yet he l iked to listen to him.
21Fin ally the opp ort une time came. On
his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his
high of f ic ials and milit ary comm anders
and the leading men of Galilee. 22When the
daughter of c Herodias came in and danced,
she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, Ask me for
anyt hing you want, and Ill give it to you.
23And he prom
i sed her with an oath,
Whatever you ask I will give you, up to
half my kingdom.
24She went out and said to her mother,
What shall I ask for?
The head of John the Bapt ist, she an
swered.
25At once the girl hurr ied in to the king
with the request: I want you to give me
r ight now the head of John the Bapt ist on
a platter.
26The king was greatly distressed, but
because of his oaths and his dinner g
uests,
he did not want to refuse her. 27So he im

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mediately sent an execut ioner with orders

to b
ring Johns head. The man went, be
headed John in the prison, 28and brought
back his head on a platter. He presented it
to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.
29On heari ng of this, Johns disc iples came
and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30The apost les gathe red a round Jesus

and reported to him all they had done and
t aught. 31Then, bec ause so many people
were coming and going that they did not
even have a chance to eat, he said to them,
Come with me by yours elves to a quiet
place and get some rest.
32So they went away by them
s elves in
a boat to a solit ary place. 33But many who
saw them leaving recogn ized them and
ran on foot from all the towns and got t here
a head of them. 34When Jesus landed and
saw a large c rowd, he had compassion on
them, bec ause they were like sheep with
out a shepherd. So he began teaching them
many things.
35By this time it was late in the day, so
his disciples came to him. This is a remote
place, they said, and its already very late.
36Send the people away so that they can go
to the surrounding count ryside and villag
es and buy themselves somet hing to eat.
37But he an
s wered, You give them
somet hing to eat.
a14

b20
c22

Some early manuscripts He was saying

Some early manuscripts he did many things
Some early manuscripts When his daughter

1/9/13 9:31 AM

Mark 67
They said to him, That would take more
than half a years wagesa! Are we to go and
spend that much on bread and give it to
them to eat?
38How many loaves do you have? he
asked. Go and see.
When they found out, they said, Five
and two fish.
39Then Jesus directe d them to have all
the people sit down in g roups on the g reen
g rass. 40So they sat down in g roups of hun
dreds and fift ies. 41Taking the five loaves
and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he gave t hanks and broke the loaves. Then
he gave them to his disciples to dist ribute
to the people. He also div ided the two fish
a mong them all. 42They all ate and were
satisf ied, 43and the disc iples p icked up
t welve basketf uls of broken pieces of bread
and fish. 44The number of the men who had
eaten was five thousand.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45Im m ed ia tel y Jesus made his dis c i

ples get into the boat and go on a head of
him to Bethsaida, w
hile he dism issed the
crowd. 46After leaving them, he went up on
a mount ainside to pray.
47Later that night, the boat was in the
midd le of the lake, and he was a lone on
land. 48He saw the disciples straining at the
oars, bec ause the wind was against them.
Shortly before dawn he went out to them,
walking on the lake. He was about to pass
by them, 49but when they saw him walking
on the lake, they t hought he was a ghost.
They cried out, 50because they all saw him
and were terr if ied.

1103

Immediately he s poke to them and said,

Take coura ge! It is I. Dont be a fraid.
51Then he climbed into the boat with them,
and the wind died down. They were com
pletely a mazed, 52for they had not under
stood a bout the loaves; their h
earts were
hardened.
53When they had
c rossed over, they
landed at Gennesa ret and anchored t here.
54As soon as they got out of the boat, people
recog n ized Jesus. 55They ran throughout
that whole reg ion and carr ied the sick on
mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And
wherever he went into villages, towns or
countrysidethey p
laced the sick in the
marketp lace s. They b
egged him to let
them touch even the edge of his cloak, and
all who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles

The Pharisees and some of the teach

ers of the law who had come from Je
rusa lem gathered a round Jesus 2and saw
some of his disc ip les eating food with
hands that were def iled, that is, unwashed.
3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat
unless they give t heir hands a ceremonia l
washing, holding to the tradit ion of the el
ders. 4When they come from the market
place they do not eat unless they wash. And
they observe many other trad it ions, such
as the washing of cups, pitchers and ket
tles.b)
5So the Phar
is ees and teachers of the
law a sked J esus, Why dont your disciples
a37Greek take two hundred denarii b4Some
early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches

Baking Bread

Women used clay ovens to bake

bread. They built a fire inside, and
when the oven was hot they put
pancake-shaped bread on the outside to cook. Or they scraped the
ashes out of the oven and put small
loaves of bread inside.

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1104

Mark 7

What is the tradition of

the elders?
7:5 The tradition of the

elders was the list of many

rules that the Pharisees had
made up. The Pharisees
thought that all of their
rules were very importantmore important even
than Gods law and his Word.
Jesus said that the Pharisees
were wrong. Rules made up by
people are never as important as Gods
Word.

live according to the tradit ion of the elders

instead of eating their food with defiled
hands?
6He replied, Isaiah was r ight when he
prophesied about you hypoc rites; as it is
writ ten:
These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human
rules.a
8You

have let go of the commands of God

and are holding on to human tradit ions.
9And he cont inued, You have a fine way
of setting aside the commands of God in
order to obs erve b your own trad itions!
10For Mos es said, Honor your fat her and
mother,c and, Anyone who curses t heir fa
ther or mother is to be put to death.d 11But
you say that if anyone declares that what
m ight have been used to help t heir fat her
or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to
God) 12then you no longer let them do
anyt hing for t heir fat her or mother. 13Thus
you nullif y the word of God by your tradi
tion that you have handed down. And you
do many t hings like that.
14Again
Jesus c alled the c rowd to him
and said, Listen to me, everyone, and un
derstand this. 15Nothi ng outside a person
can def ile them by going into them. Rather,
it is what c omes out of a person that def iles
them. [16]e
17After he had left the c
rowd and entered
the house, his disciples asked him about

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this parable. 18Are you so dull? he asked.

Dont you see that nothing that enters a
person from the outside can defile them?
19For it d
oesnt go into their heart but into
their stomach, and then out of the body. (In
saying this, J esus declared all foods clean.)
20He went on: What comes out of a per
son is what defiles them. 21For it is from
within, out of a pers ons heart, that evil
t houghts come sexua l immoralit y, t heft,
murder, 22adultery, g reed, mal ice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and fol
ly. 23All t hese e vils come from inside and
def ile a person.

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Womans

Faith

24Jesus left that p

lace and went to the vi
cinit y of Tyre. f He entered a h
ouse and did
not want anyone to know it; yet he could not
keep his presence secret. 25In fact, as soon
as she h
eard about him, a woma n whose
litt le daughter was possessed by an impure
spirit came and fell at his feet. 26The wom
an was a G
reek, born in Syria n Phoenicia.
She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of
her daughter.
27First let the chil
d ren eat all they
want, he told her, for it is not r ight to take
the childrens bread and toss it to the dogs.
28Lord, she replied, even the dogs un
der the table eat the childrens crumbs.
29Then he told her, For such a reply, you
may go; the demon has left your daughter.
30She went home and found her child ly
ing on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

31Then Jesus left the vicinit y of Tyre and

went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Gal
ilee and into the reg ion of the Decapolis.g
32There some people brought to him a man
who was deaf and could hardly talk, and
they b
egged J esus to place his hand on him.
33Aft er he took him a
side, away from the
crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the m
ans
ears. Then he spit and touched the mans
t ongue. 34He looked up to heave n and
with a deep sigh said to him, Ephphatha!
a6,7Isaiah

29:13 b9 Some manuscripts set up

20:12; Deut. 5:16 d10 Exodus 21:17;
Lev. 20:9 e16 Some manuscripts include here the
words of 4:23. f24 Many early manuscripts Tyre
and Sidon g31 That is, the Ten Cities
c10Exodus

1/9/13 9:32 AM

Mark 78

1105

(which means Be opened!). 35At this, the

mans ears were opened, his tongue was
loosened and he began to s peak plainly.
36Jesus com
m ande d them not to tell
anyone. But the more he did so, the more
they kept talking about it. 37People were
overwhelmed with amazement. He has
done everyt hing well, they said. He even
makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.

16They disc ussed this with one another

and said, It is because we have no bread.
17Aware of t heir disc ussion, Jesus asked
them: Why are you talking about having
no b
read? Do you s till not see or under
stand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you
have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to
hear? And d
ont you remember? 19When I
broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many basketfuls of piece s did you
pickup?
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
Twelve, they replied.
Dur i ng t hose days ano the r l arge
20And when I broke the seven l oaves for
ince they had noth
crowd gathered. S
ing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him the four thousand, how many basketf uls of
and said, 2I have comp assion for these pieces did you pickup?
They answered, Seven.
people; they have already been with me
21He said to them, Do you s
till not un
three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I
send them home hung ry, they will collapse derstand?
on the way, bec ause some of them have
Jesus Heals a Blind Man atBethsaida
come a long dist ance.
4His disc iples ans wered, But where in
22They came to Beth
s aida, and some
this remote p
lace can anyone get e nough people b
rought a blind man and begged
bread to feed them?
Jesus to touch him. 23He took the b
lind
5How many loaves do you have? Jesus man by the hand and led him outs ide the
asked.
village. When he had spit on the mans eyes
Seven, they replied.
and put his h
ands on him, Jesus asked, Do
6He told the
c rowd to sit down on the you see anyt hing?
24He looked up and said, I see people;
g round. When he had take n the seve n
loaves and given thanks, he broke them they look like t rees walking around.
25Once more J
and gave them to his disc iples to distrib
esus put his h
ands on the
ute to the people, and they did so. 7They mans eyes. Then his eyes were o
pened, his
had a few small fish as well; he gave t hanks sight was restored, and he saw everyt hing
for them also and told the disciples to dis clearl y. 26Jesus sent him home, saying,
tribute them. 8The people ate and were Dont even go intoa the village.
sat isf ied. Af t er w ard the disc iples picked
up seven basketf uls of broken pieces that Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
were left over. 9About four thousand were
27Jesus and his disc iples went on to the
present. After he had sent them away, 10he villages a round Caesa rea Phil ippi. On the
got into the boat with his disciples and went way he asked them, Who do people say
to the reg ion of Dalmanut ha.
Iam?
11The Phar
i sees came and beg an to
28They replied, Some say John the Bap
quest ion Jesus. To test him, they asked him tist; others say Elijah; and still others, one
for a sign from heaven. 12He sighed deeply of the prophets.
and said, Why does this generat ion ask for
29But what about you? he a
sked. Who
a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given do you say Iam?
to it. 13Then he left them, got back into the
Peter answered, You are the Messia h.
boat and crossed to the other side.
30Jesus w arned them not to tell anyone
about him.

The Yeast of the Pharisees andHerod

14The dis c iples had forgot t en to bring Jesus Predicts His Death
read, exc ept for one loaf they had with
b
31He then beg an to t each them that the
them in the boat. 15Be caref ul, Jesus Son of Man must suffer many things and be
warned them. Watch out for the yeast of
a26 Some manuscripts go and tell anyone in
the Pharisees and that of Herod.

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1/9/13 9:32 AM

1106

Mark 89

The Transfiguration

Jesus
Jesus performed many miracles and
taught his followers important
lessons, but he was much more than a
prophet and teacher. He is the Son of
God. God chose Jesus to be the Christ,
which means that he is the Savior of
his people. God called Jesus my Son
(Mark 9:7), which shows that Jesus is
truly God. The name Son of Man
(Mark 8:31) tells us that Jesus was also
a real human being.

rejected by the elders, the c hief p

riests and
the teachers of the law, and that he must be
k illed and after t hree days rise a gain. 32He
spoke plainly a bout this, and Peter took
him a side and began to rebuke him.
33But when Jesus t urned and looked at
his disc iples, he rebuked Peter. Get be
hind me, Sat an! he said. You do not have
in mind the concerns of God, but merely
human concerns.

The Way of the Cross

34Then he c alled the c rowd to him a long

with his discip les and said: Whoeve r
wants to be my disc iple must deny them
selves and take up their c ross and follow
me. 35For whoever wants to save t heir lifea
will lose it, but whoever loses t heir life for
me and for the gospel will save it. 36What
good is it for someone to gain the w
hole
world, yet forfeit their soul? 37Or what can
anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38If
anyone is ashamed of me and my words in
this adulterous and sin f ul generat ion, the
Son of Man will be ashamed of them when
he comes in his Fathers glor y with the holy
angels.
And he said to them, Truly I tell you,
some who are standing here will not
t aste d
eath before they see that the king
dom of God has come with power.

2Aft er six days J

esus took Peter, James
and John with him and led them up a high
mount ain, where they were all alone. T here
he was transfigu red before them. 3His
clothes became dazzling white, whiter than
anyone in the world c ould bleach them.
4And
t here app eared before them Elijah
and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good
for us to be here. Let us put up t hree shel
tersone for you, one for Moses and one
for Elijah. 6(He did not know what to say,
they were so frightened.)
7Then a c
loud app eared and cove red
them, and a voice came from the cloud:
This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to
him!
8Sudd en l y, when they l ooked a round,
they no longer saw anyone with them ex
cept Jesus.
9As they were coming down the moun
tain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell
anyone what they had seen unt il the Son of
Man had risen from the dead. 10They kept
the matter to themselves, discussing what
rising from the dead meant.
11And they a
sked him, Why do the
teachers of the law say that Elijah must
come first?
12Jesus replied, To be sure, Elijah does
come first, and restores all things. Why
then is it written that the Son of Man must
suffer much and be rejected? 13But I tell
you, Elijah has come, and they have done
to him everyt hing they w ished, just as it is
written about him.
a35

TheGreek word means either life or soul; also in

verses 36 and37.

This is my Son,
whom I love.
Listen to him!
Mark 9:7

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Mark 9

Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an

ImpureSpirit

14When they came to the other disc iples,

they saw a large c rowd a round them and

the teachers of the law arg uing with them.
15As soon as all the people saw J
esus, they
were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to
g reet him.
16What are you ar
g uing with them
about? he asked.
17A man in the c rowd answered, Teach
er, I b
rought you my son, who is possessed
by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
18Whenever it seizes him, it t hrows him to
the g
round. He f oams at the mouth, gnash
es his teeth and bec omes rigid. I a sked
your disc iples to d rive out the spirit, but
they c ould not.
19You unbel ievi ng generat ion, Jesus re
plied, how long shall I stay with you? How
long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy
tome.
20So they brought him. When the spir
it saw Jesus, it immediately t hrew the boy
into a conv ulsion. He fell to the g round and
rolled a round, foaming at the mouth.
21Jesus asked the b
oys father, How long
has he been like this?
From childhood, he ans wered. 22It
has often t hrown him into fire or water to
kill him. But if you can do anyt hing, take
pity on us and helpus.
23If you can? said Jesus. Everyt hing
is possible for one who bel ieves.
24Im m ed ia tel y the b oys fat her ex
claimed, I do believe; help me overcome
my unbel ief !
25When Jesus saw that a c rowd was run
ning to the scene, he rebuked the impure
spirit. You deaf and mute spirit, he said,
I command you, come out of him and nev
er enter him again.
26The spir
i t s hrieked, conv ulsed him
violently and came out. The boy looked
so much like a c orpse that many said,
Hes dead. 27But J esus took him by the
hand and lifte d him to his feet, and he
s toodup.
28Aft er Jesus had gone indoors, his dis
ciples asked him privately, Why couldnt
we d
rive it out?
29He replied, This kind can come out
only by prayer.a

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1107

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

30They left that place and passed t hrough

Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know
where they were, 31because he was teach
ing his disc iples. He said to them, The
Son of Man is going to be del ivered into the
hands of men. They will kill him, and after
t hree days he will rise. 32But they did not
understand what he m
eant and were a fraid
to ask him aboutit.
33They came to Ca
p ernau m. When he
was in the house, he asked them, What
were you arg uing about on the road? 34But
they kept quiet bec ause on the way they
had arg ued a bout who was the greatest.
35Sitt ing down, Jesus c alled the Twelve
and said, Anyone who w ants to be first
must be the very last, and the servant of
all.
36He took a litt le child whom he p
laced
a mong them. Taking the child in his arms,
he said to them, 37Whoeve r welc omes
one of t hese litt le children in my name wel
comes me; and whoever welcomes me does
not welcome me but the one who sentme.

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is forUs

38Teacher, said John, we saw someone

driving out demons in your name and we
told him to stop, bec ause he was not one
ofus.
39Do not stop him, Jesus said. For no
one who does a miracle in my name can in
the next moment say anything bad about
me, 40for whoever is not a gainst us is for
us. 41Truly I tell you, anyone who g ives you
a cup of water in my name because you be
long to the Messia h will cert ainly not lose
their reward.

Causing to Stumble

42If any
one causes one of these little
onesthose who bel ieve in meto stum
ble, it would be better for them if a large
millstone were hung a round t heir neck and
they were thrown into the sea. 43If your
hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It
is better for you to enter life maimed than
with two hands to go into hell, where the
fire never goes out. [44]b 45And if your foot
a29

Some manuscripts prayer and fasting

Some manuscripts include here the words of
verse48.

b44

1/9/13 9:32 AM

1108

Mark 910

Anyone who gives you

a cup of water in my
name because you
belong to the Messiah
will certainly not
lose their reward.
Mark 9:41

causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better

for you to enter life crippled than to have
two feet and be t hrown into hell. [46]a 47And
if your eye causes you to stumble, p
luck it
out. It is better for you to enter the king
dom of God with one eye than to have two
eyes and be t hrown into hell, 48where
the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.b
49Everyone

will be salted with fire.

50Salt is good, but if it loses its salti ness,
how can you make it salty again? Have salt
a mong yours elves, and be at p
eace with
each other.

Divorce

10

Jesus then left that p

lace and went
into the reg ion of Judea and across
the Jordan. A gain c rowds of people came
to him, and as was his custom, he t aught
them.
2Some Pharis ees came and teste d him
by asking, Is it lawf ul for a man to divorce
his wife?
3What did Mo
s es command you? he
replied.
4They said, Mos es perm itt ed a man to
w rite a cert ificate of divorce and send her
away.
5It was bec ause your hearts were hard
that Moses w rote you this law, Jesus re
plied. 6But at the beg inn ing of creation
God made them male and female.c 7For
this reason a man will leave his fat her and
mother and be united to his wife,d 8and the
two will become one f lesh.e So they are no
longer two, but one f lesh. 9Therefore what
God has joined together, let no one sepa
rate.

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10When they were in the h

ouse a gain,
the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11He
answered, Anyone who divorces his wife
and marr ies another woma n comm its adul
tery against her. 12And if she divorces her
husband and marries another man, she
comm its adultery.

The Little Children and Jesus

13People were bringing litt le child ren to

J esus for him to place his hands on them,
but the disc iples rebuked them. 14When
Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to
them, Let the litt le child ren come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom
of God belongs to such as these. 15Truly
I tell you, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a litt le c hild will nev
er enter it. 16And he took the child ren in
his arms, placed his h
ands on them and
blessed them.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran

up to him and fell on his k nees before him.
Good teacher, he asked, what must I do
to inherit eternal life?
18Why do you call me good?
Jesus
answered. No one is goodexcept God
a lone. 19You know the comm andments:
You shall not murder, you s hall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not
give false test imony, you shall not def raud,
honor your fat her and mother.f
20Teach
e r, he declared, all these I
have kept since I was a boy.
21Jesus
looked at him and loved him.
One thing you lack, he said. Go, sell
everyt hing you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, followme.
22At this the
m ans face fell. He went
away sad, because he had g
reat wealth.
23Jesus looked a round and said to his dis
ciples, How hard it is for the rich to enter
the kingdom of God!
24The dis
c i
p les were
a mazed at his
words. But Jesus said a gain, Child ren,
how hard it isg to enter the kingdom of God!
a46

Some manuscripts include here the words

of verse48. b48Isaiah 66:24 c6Gen. 1:27
d7 Some early manuscripts do not have and be united
to his wife. e8Gen. 2:24 f19 Exodus 20:12-16;
Deut. 5:16-20 g24 Some manuscripts is for those
who trust in riches

1/9/13 9:32 AM

Mark 10
25It is easier for a camel to go t hrough the
eye of a need le than for someone who is
rich to enter the kingdom of God.
26The disc iples were even more a mazed,
and said to each other, Who then can be
saved?
27Jesus looked at them and said, With
man this is impossible, but not with God;
all t hings are possible with God.
28Then Pet er spoke up, We have left ev
eryt hing to follow you!
29Truly I tell you, J
esus replied, no one
who has left home or brothers or sisters or
mother or father or child ren or fields for
me and the gosp el 30will fail to receive a
hundred t imes as much in this present age:
homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children
and f ields along with persecut ions a nd
in the age to come eternal life. 31But many
who are f irst will be last, and the last first.

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

32They were on t heir way up to Jer us a

lem, with Jesus leading the way, and the
disc ip les were ast oni shed, w hile t hose
who followed were a fraid. A gain he took
the Twelve aside and told them what was
going to happen to him. 33We are going up
to Jer usalem, he said, and the Son of Man

1109

will be delivered over to the chief priests

and the teachers of the law. They will con
demn him to death and will hand him over
to the Gent iles, 34who will mock him and
spit on him, flog him and kill him. T
hree
days later he will rise.

The Request of James and John

35Then James and John, the sons of Zeb

edee, came to him. Teacher, they said,
we want you to do for us whatever we ask.
36What do you want me to do for you?
he asked.
37They replied, Let one of us sit at your
r ight and the other at your left in your glo
ry.
38You dont know what you are aski ng,
Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink
or be bapt ized with the bapt ism I am bap
tized with?
39We can, they answered.
Jesus said to them, You will d rink the
cup I d rink and be bapt ized with the bap
tism I am bapt ized with, 40but to sit at my
r ight or left is not for me to g
rant. T hese
places belong to t hose for whom they have
been prepared.
41When the ten
heard about this, they
bec ame ind ignant with James and John.

Being an Important Person

Read Mark 10:3545. Jesus told his disciples that, to be
really important, they must serve others (Mark 10:43).
Here are two lists of things kids may do. Which list
describes a person who is willing to be a servant instead
of wanting to be the boss? Even boys and girls can be
great Christians if they are willing to serve.
List #1
Always wants to be the leader in games.
Brags about high grades.
Wants only the best players on his team.
Always insists Im right.
Never listens to others ideas.
List #2
Takes turns with others being leader.
Helps others out with schoolwork.
Wants friends on her team even if theyre not the best.
Gives in sometimes to others.
Listens to others, and shares his own ideas too.

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Mark 10:3545

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1110

Mark 1011

42Jesus c
alled them together and said, You
know that t hose who are regarded as rul
ers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and
t heir high off icials exercise aut horit y over
them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoev
er w
ants to become g
reat a mong you must
be your servant, 44and whoever wants to
be f irst must be slave of all. 45For even the
Son of Man did not come to be s erved, but
to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.

Blind Bartimaeus Receives HisSight

46Then they came to Jericho. As J

esus
and his disc iples, together with a large
crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man,
Bar t imaeus (which means son of Timae
us), was sitt ing by the roadside begg ing.
47When he heard that it was Jesus of Naza
reth, he began to shout, Jesus, Son of Da
vid, have merc y onme!
48Many rebuked him and told him to be
quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of
Dav id, have merc y onme!
49Jesus s
topped and said, Call him.
So they c alled to the b
lind man, Cheer
up! On your feet! Hes call
i ng you.
50Throwing his cloak a side, he jumped to
his feet and came to Jesus.
51What do you want me to do for you?
Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, Rabbi, I want to
see.
52Go, said J
esus, your f aith has h
ealed
you. Im med iatel y he rec eived his s ight
and followed J esus a long the road.

Jesus Comes to JerusalemasKing

11

As they app roached Jer us a l em and

came to Bethphage and Betha ny at the
Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his dis
ciples, 2saying to them, Go to the village
a head of you, and just as you enter it, you
will find a colt tied t here, w
hich no one has
ever ridden. Unt ie it and bring it here. 3If
anyone asks you, Why are you doing this?
say, The Lord needs it and will send it back
here shortly.
4They went and found a colt outs ide in
the s treet, tied at a doorway. As they un
tied it, 5some people standing t here asked,
What are you doing, untying that colt?
6They an
swered as Jesus had told them
to, and the people let them go. 7When they

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rought the colt to Jesus and threw their

b
cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people
spread t heir cloaks on the road, while oth
ers spread branches they had cut in the
f ields. 9Those who went a head and those
who followed shouted,
Hosanna!a
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord!b
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our
father David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
11Jesus ent ered Jer us alem and went into
the temple c ourts. He looked a round at ev
eryt hing, but since it was already late, he
went out to Betha ny with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears

theTempleCourts

12The next day as they were leav

i ng
Betha ny, Jesus was hung ry. 13Seei ng in
the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to
find out if it had any f ruit. When he reached
it, he found nothing but leaves, because it
was not the season for figs. 14Then he said
to the tree, May no one ever eat f ruit from
you a gain. And his disc iples heard him
sayit.
15On reachi ng Jer us alem, Jesus ent ered
the temple courts and began driving out
t hose who were buying and selling t here.
He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of t hose selling
doves, 16and w
ould not allow anyone to car
ry merchandise through the temple courts.
17And as he t aught them, he said, Is it not
written: My house will be called a h
ouse of
prayer for all nat ionsc? But you have made
it a den of robbers.d
18The c
hief p
riests and the teachers of
the law h
eard this and began looking for
a way to kill him, for they feared him, be
cause the whole crowd was a mazed at his
teaching.
19When even ing came, Jesus and his dis
ciples e went out of the city.
20In the morn
i ng, as they went a long,
a9

AHebrew expression meaning Save! which

became an exclamation of praise; also in verse10
118:25,26 c17Isaiah 56:7 d17Jer.
7:11 e19 Some early manuscripts came, Jesus
b9Psalm

1/9/13 9:32 AM

Mark 1112
they saw the fig tree withered from the
roots. 21Peter rememb ered and said to
Jesus, Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed
has withered!
22Have faith in God, J
esus answered.
23Trul y a I tell you, if anyone says to this
mount ain, Go, t hrow yourself into the sea,
and does not doubt in their h
eart but be
lieves that what they say will happen, it will
be done for them. 24Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in p
rayer, bel ieve that
you have received it, and it will be yours.
25And when you stand praying, if you hold
anyt hing a gainst anyone, forg ive them, so
that your Fat her in heaven may forg ive you
your sins. [26]b

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

27They ar r ived a gain in Jer us a lem, and

hile Jesus was walking in the temple
w
courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the
law and the elders came to him. 28By what
authorit y are you doing these things? they
asked. And who gave you aut horit y to do
this?
29Jesus replied, I will ask you one ques
tion. Answer me, and I will tell you by what
aut horit y I am doing t hese t hings. 30Johns
bapt ismwas it from heaven, or of human
orig in? Tellme!
31They disc ussed it a
mong themselves
and said, If we say, From heaven, he will
ask, Then why d idnt you believe him?
32But if we say, Of hu
m an orig in . . .

1111

(They feared the people, for everyone held

that John really was a prophet.)
33So they an
s wered Jesus, We dont
know.
Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by
what aut horit y I am doing t hese things.

The Parable of the Tenants

12

Jesus then began to speak to them in

parables: A man planted a vineyard.
He put a wall a round it, dug a pit for the
winepress and built a watchtower. Then he
rented the vineyard to some farmers and
moved to another place. 2At harvest time
he sent a servant to the tena nts to collect
from them some of the fruit of the vine
yard. 3But they seized him, beat him and
sent him away empty-hande d. 4Then he
sent another servant to them; they s truck
this man on the head and treate d him
shamef ully. 5He sent still another, and that
one they k illed. He sent many others; some
of them they beat, others they killed.
6He had one left to send, a son, whom
he loved. He sent him last of all, saying,
They will respect my son.
7But the ten
a nts said to one another,
This is the heir. Come, lets kill him, and
the inherit ance will be ours. 8So they took
him and k illed him, and t hrew him out of
the vineyard.
a22,23 Some early manuscripts If you have faith
in God, Jesus answered, 23truly b26Some
manuscripts include here words similar to Matt.6:15.

Clearing the Temple

The great temple in Jerusalem had several

courtyards. In the outer court it had become common for people to buy and sell
animals to sacrifice. Jesus was angry about
this. Gods temple was for prayer, not for
doing business.

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1112

Mark 12

What is a parable?
12:1 A parable is a special
kind of story. It teaches a
lesson by saying what
something is like. When
we know what the things
in a parable represent, we
can understand what the
parable is teaching. Each
person in the parable in
Mark 12 represents someone. The man who planted the
vineyard represents God. The farmers
represent religious leaders. The servants
represent Gods prophets. And the son
represents Jesus. Jesus was telling the
story of salvation in this parable.

9What then will the owner of the vine

yard do? He will come and kill those tenants
and give the vineyard to others. 10Havent
you read this passage of Script ure:

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyesa ?
12Then the
chief p riests, the teachers
of the law and the elders looked for a way
to arrest him bec ause they knew he had
spoken the parable against them. But they
were a fraid of the c rowd; so they left him
and went away.

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar

13Later they sent some of the Pharisees

and Herod ia ns to Jesus to c atch him in
his words. 14They came to him and said,
Teacher, we know that you are a man of
integr it y. You a rent swayed by others, be
cause you pay no attent ion to who they are;
but you t each the way of God in accordance
with the t ruth. Is it r ight to pay the imper ial
taxb to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or
shouldntwe?
But Jesus knew t heir hy p ocr isy. Why
are you trying to trap me? he a sked.
Bring me a denarius and let me look at
rought the coin, and he asked
it. 16They b

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them, Whose ima ge is this? And whose

inscript ion?
Caesars, they replied.
17Then Jesus said to them, Give back to
Caesar what is Caes ars and to God what
is Gods.
And they were a mazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection

18Then the Sadducees, who say t here is

no resurrect ion, came to him with a ques
tion. 19Teacher, they said, Moses w rote
for us that if a m
ans brother dies and l eaves
a wife but no children, the man must mar
ry the widow and raise up offspring for his
brother. 20Now there were seven broth
ers. The first one marr ied and died with
out leaving any child ren. 21The second
one marr ied the widow, but he also died,
leaving no child. It was the same with the
t hird. 22In fact, none of the seven left any
child ren. Last of all, the woma n died too.
23At the resu r rec t ion c whose wife will she
be, since the seven were marr ied to her?
24Jesus re
plied, Are you not in error
bec ause you do not know the Scriptures
or the powe r of God? 25When the dead
rise, they will neit her marr y nor be given
in marr iage; they will be like the angels
in heaven. 26Now about the dead rising
have you not read in the Book of Moses, in
the account of the burning bush, how God
said to him, I am the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacobd? 27He
is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
You are badly mist aken!

The Greatest Commandment

28One of the teach

ers of the law came
and heard them debat i ng. Not ici ng that
Jesus had given them a good answer, he
a sked him, Of all the comm andments,
which is the most import ant?
29The most imp ort ant one, ans wered
Jesus, is this: Hear, O Isr ael: The Lord
our God, the Lord is one.e 30Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with
all your s trength.f 31The second is this:
a11Psalm

118:22,23 b14 A special tax levied on

subject peoples, not on Roman citizens c23Some
manuscripts resurrection, when people rise from the
dead, d26Exodus 3:6 e29OrThe Lord our
God is one Lord f30Deut. 6:4,5

1/9/13 9:32 AM

Mark 1213

Love the Lord your God with

all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your
mind and with all your
strength . . . Love
your neighbor as
yourself. There is
no commandment
greater than these.

1113

agogues and the places of honor at ban

quets. 40They devour widows houses and
for a show make lengthy p
rayers. T hese
men will be punished most severely.

The Widows Offering

41Jesus sat down op

p osite the p lace
here the offerings were put and watched
w
the c rowd putting their money into the
temple treasury. Many rich people threw
in large a mounts. 42But a poor widow came
and put in two very s mall copp er c oins,
worth only a few cents.
43Calli ng his disc iples to him, Jesus said,
Mark 12:3031
Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put
more into the treasury than all the others.
44They all gave out of t heir w
ealth; but she,
Love your neighbor as yourself.a T here is out of her povert y, put in everyt hinga ll
no commandment greater than these.
she had to liveon.
32Well said, teacher, the man replied.
You are r ight in saying that God is one The Destruction of the Temple and
and there is no other but him. 33To love SignsoftheEndTimes
him with all your h
eart, with all your un
As Jesus was leaving the temple, one
derstanding and with all your strength,
of his disc iples said to him, Look,
and to love your neighbor as yours elf is
Teacher! What massive stones! What mag
more imp or t ant than all burnt of fer i ngs
nif icent buildings!
and sacr if ices.
2Do you see all t hese g
reat buildings?
34When Jesus saw that he had answered
replied Jesus. Not one stone here will be
wisely, he said to him, You are not far from
left on another; every one will be thrown
the kingdom of God. And from then on no
down.
one d
ared ask him any more quest ions.
3As
Jesus was sitting on the Mount of
Ol ives opposite the temple, Peter, James,
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
John and And rew a sked him priv ately,
35While Jesus was teaching in the tem
4Tell us, when will t hese t hings happ en?
ple courts, he asked, Why do the teachers And what will be the sign that they are all
of the law say that the Messia h is the son about to be fulf illed?
of Dav id? 36Dav id himself, speaking by the
5Jesus said to them: Watch out that no
Holy Spirit, declared:
one deceives you. 6Many will come in my
name, claiming, I am he, and will deceive
The Lord said to my Lord:
many. 7When you hear of wars and rumors
Sit at my right hand
of
wars, do not be a larmed. Such things
until I put your enemies
must happen, but the end is s till to come.
under your feet.b
8Nat ion will rise a gainst nat ion, and king
37Dav id himself c
alls him Lord. How then dom against kingdom. T here will be earth
can he be his son?
quakes in various place s, and famines.
The large crowd listened to him with de T hese are the beg inning of birth pains.
light.
9You must be on your g uard. You will
be handed over to the loc al counc ils and
Warning Against the Teachers oftheLaw f logged in the synagogues. On account of
38As he taught, Jesus said, Watch out
me you will stand before governors and
for the teachers of the law. They like to k ings as witnesses to them. 10And the gos
walk a round in flowing r obes and be greet pel must first be preached to all nations.
ed with respect in the marketplaces, 39and
have the most import ant seats in the syn a31Lev. 19:18 b36Psalm 110:1

13

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1/9/13 9:32 AM

1114

Mark 1314

11Whenever

you are ar rested and brought

to tria l, do not worr y beforehand about
what to say. Just say whatever is given you
at the time, for it is not you speaking, but
the Holy Spirit.
12Brother will bet ray brother to d
eath,
and a fat her his child. Child ren will rebel
against t heir parents and have them put to
death. 13Everyone will hate you because of
me, but the one who stands firm to the end
will be saved.
14When you see the abominat ion that
causes desolat ion a standing where itb does
not belong let the reader understand
then let t hose who are in Judea flee to the
mount ains. 15Let no one on the housetop
go down or enter the house to take any
thing out. 16Let no one in the f ield go back
to get their cloak. 17How dreadful it will
be in t hose days for pregnant women and
nursi ng mothers! 18Pray that this will not
take place in winter, 19bec ause t hose will
be days of dist ress unequaled from the be
ginning, when God created the world, unt il
nowa nd never to be e qualed again.
20If the Lord had not cut
short those
days, no one would surv ive. But for the
sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he
has shortened them. 21At that time if any
one says to you, Look, here is the Messi
ah! or, Look, t here he is! do not bel ieve it.
22For f alse messia hs and f alse prophets will
appear and perform s igns and wonders to
deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23So be
on your g
uard; I have told you everyt hing
a head of time.
24But in t hose days, following that dis
tress,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be
shaken.c
26At that time people will see the Son
of Man coming in c louds with g reat pow
er and glor y. 27And he will send his angels
and gather his e lect from the four w inds,
from the ends of the earth to the ends of
the heavens.
28Now learn this les
s on from the fig
tree: As soon as its t wigs get tender and its
leaves come out, you know that summer is
near. 29Even so, when you see t hese t hings

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People will see the Son

of Man coming in
clouds with great
power and glory.
Mark 13:26

happening, you know that itd is near, r ight

at the door. 30Truly I tell you, this gener
at ion will cert ainly not pass away unt il all
t hese t hings have happened. 31Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my w
ords will nev
er pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

32But
about that day or hour no one
nows, not even the angels in heaven, nor
k
the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on g uard!
Be a lert e! You do not know when that time
will come. 34Its like a man going away: He
leaves his house and puts his servants in
charge, each with their assigned task, and
tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35Therefore keep w
atch because you do
not know when the owner of the h
ouse will
come backwhether in the evening, or at
midnight, or when the rooster c rows, or at
dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let
him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you,
I say to everyone: Watch!

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

14

Now the Passover and the Festival

of Unleavened Bread were only two
days away, and the chief priests and the
teachers of the law were scheming to ar
rest J esus secretly and kill him. 2But not
during the fest ival, they said, or the peo
ple may riot.
3While he was in Betha ny, reclining at
the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a
woma n came with an alabaster jar of very
expensive perf ume, made of pure nard. She
oured the perfume on
broke the jar and p
his head.
4Some of t hose present were saying in
a14Daniel

9:27; 11:31; 12:11 b14Orhe

13:10; 34:4 d29Orhe e33Some
manuscripts alert and pray
c25Isaiah

1/9/13 9:32 AM

Mark 14
dignantly to one another, Why this waste
of per f ume? 5It could have been sold for
more than a y ears wagesa and the money
given to the poor. And they rebuked her
harshly.
6Leave her a lone, said Jesus. Why are
you bothering her? She has done a beaut i
ful t hing to me. 7The poor you will always
have with you,b and you can help them any
time you want. But you will not always have
me. 8She did what she c ould. She poured
perfume on my body beforehand to pre
pare for my buria l. 9Truly I tell you, wher
ever the gospel is p
reached throughout the
world, what she has done will also be told,
in memor y of her.
10Then Judas Isc ariot, one of the Twelve,
went to the c hief priests to bet ray Jesus to
them. 11They were delighted to hear this
and promised to give him money. So he
w atched for an opp ortun ity to hand him
over.

The Last Supper

12On

the f irst day of the Fest ival of Un

leavened Bread, when it was customa ry to
sacr i f ice the Passover lamb, Jesus disc i
ples a sked him, Where do you want us to
go and make prepa rat ions for you to eat the
Passover?
13So he sent two of his disc iples, telling
them, Go into the city, and a man carr y
ing a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
14Say to the owner of the house he ent ers,
The Teache r asks: W here is my g uest
room, where I may eat the Passover with
my disc iples? 15He will show you a large
room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make
prepa rat ions for us there.
16The dis
c iples left, went into the city
and found things just as Jesus had told
them. So they prepared the Passover.
17When eve
n ing came, Jesus arrived
with the T
welve. 18While they were reclin
ing at the table eating, he said, Truly I tell
you, one of you will bet ray meone who is
eating withme.
19They were saddened, and one by one
they said to him, Surely you dont mean
me?
20It is one of the T
welve, he replied,
one who dips b
read into the bowl with me.
21The Son of Man will go just as it is writ
ten about him. But woe to that man who be

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1115

trays the Son of Man! It would be better for

him if he had not been born.
22While they were eat
i ng, Jesus took
bread, and when he had given t hanks, he
broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,
Take it; this is my body.
23Then he took a cup, and when he had
given t hanks, he gave it to them, and they
all drank fromit.
24This is my
blood of thec covenant,
which is poured out for many, he said to
them. 25Truly I tell you, I will not d
rink
again from the f ruit of the vine until that day
when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
26When they had sung a hymn, they
went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peters Denial

27You will all fall away, Jesus told them,

for it is written:

I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.d
28But aft er I have risen, I will go a head of
you into Galilee.
29Peter declared, Even if all fall away,
I will not.
30Truly I tell you, Jesus answered, to
dayyes, ton ightb efore the rooste r
c rows t wice e you yourself will disown me
t hree times.
31But Pet er insisted emphatic ally, Even
if I have to die with you, I will never disown
you. And all the others said the same.

Gethsemane

32They went to a place c alled Gethsema

ne, and Jesus said to his disciples, Sit here
while I pray. 33He took Peter, James and
John a long with him, and he began to be
deeply dist ressed and troubled. 34My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the p oint
of d
eath, he said to them. Stay here and
keep watch.
35Go
i ng a little farther, he fell to the
g round and prayed that if possible the hour
m ight pass from him. 36Abba,f Fat her, he
said, everyt hing is possible for you. Take
this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but
what you will.
a5Greek than three hundred denarii b7See
Deut.15:11. c24 Some manuscripts the new
d27Zech. 13:7 e30 Some early manuscripts do
not have twice. f36 Aramaic for father

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1116

Mark 14

37Then he ret urned to his disc iples and

found them sleeping. Simon, he said to
Peter, are you asleep? C
ouldnt you keep
watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so
that you will not fall into tempt at ion. The
spirit is willing, but the f lesh is weak.
39Once more he went away and p rayed
the same t hing. 40When he came back, he
again found them sleepi ng, bec ause t heir
eyes were heavy. They did not know what
to say to him.
41Re
t urning the third time, he said to
them, Are you s till sleeping and resting?
E nough! The hour has come. Look, the
Son of Man is delivered into the h
ands of
sinners. 42Rise! Let us go! Here c omes my
bet rayer!

Jesus Arrested

43Just as he was speak

i ng, Judas, one
of the Twelve, app eared. With him was a
c rowd a rmed with s words and clubs, sent
from the chief priests, the teachers of the
law, and the elders.
44Now the be
t ray
e r had ar
r anged a
signal with them: The one I kiss is the
man; arrest him and lead him away under
g uard. 45Going at once to Jesus, Judas
said, Rabbi! and k
issed him. 46The men
seized Jesus and arrested him. 47Then one
of t hose standing near drew his sword and
struck the servant of the high priest, cut
ting off his ear.
48AmI leading a rebellion, said Jesus,
that you have come out with s words and
clubs to capt ure me? 49Every day I was with
you, teaching in the temple c ourts, and you
did not arrest me. But the Script ures must
be ful f illed. 50Then eve ryone des erte d
him and fled.
51A young man, wearing nothing but a
linen garment, was following Jesus. When
they seized him, 52he fled naked, leaving
his garment behind.

hed rin were look i ng for ev idence a gainst

Jesus so that they could put him to death,
but they did not find any. 56Many test if ied
falsely a gainst him, but their statements
did not agree.
57Then some s
tood up and gave this f alse
test imony a gainst him: 58We heard him
say, I will destroy this temple made with
human h
ands and in t hree days will b
uild
another, not made with hands. 59Yet even
then t heir test imony did not agree.
60Then the high p riest s tood up before
them and a sked Jesus, Are you not go
ing to answer? What is this test imony that
these men are bringing against you? 61But
Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high p
riest a sked him, Are you
the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?
62I am, said Jesus. And you will see
the Son of Man sitt ing at the r ight hand of
the Mighty One and coming on the c louds
of heaven.
63The high priest tore his clothes. Why
do we need any more witnesses? he asked.
64You have heard the blasphemy. What do
you think?
They all condemned him as worthy of
death. 65Then some began to spit at him;
they blindfolded him, struck him with t heir
f ists, and said, Prophesy! And the g uards
took him and beat him.

Peter Disowns Jesus

66While Pe
t er was below in the court
yard, one of the servant g irls of the high
p riest came by. 67When she saw Peter
warming himself, she l ooked closely at him.
You also were with that Nazarene,
Jesus, she said.
68But he den ied it. I dont know or un
derstand what youre talking about, he
said, and went out into the ent ryway.a
69When the serv ant girl saw him t here,
she said a gain to those standing a round,
This fellow is one of them. 70Again he de
niedit.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
After a litt le while, t hose standing near
53They took
Jesus to the high p riest, said to Peter, Surely you are one of them,
and all the chief priests, the elders and the for you are a Galilea n.
teachers of the law came together. 54Peter
71He be
g an to call down curse s, and
followed him at a distance, r ight into the he swore to them, I dont know this man
courtyard of the high p
riest. T here he sat youre talking about.
with the g uards and w
armed himself at the
fire.
a68 Some early manuscripts entryway and the rooster
55The chief p riests and the whole San crowed

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Mark 1415

1117

72Im m ed ia tel y the rooste r c rowed the

13Cruc if y him! they shouted.
14Why? What
second time. a Then Peter remembered the
c rime has he comm it
word J esus had spoken to him: Before the ted? asked Pilate.
rooster c rows t wice b you will disown me
But they shouted all the louder, Crucif y
t hree t imes. And he b
roke down and wept. him!
15Want i ng to sat i sf y the c rowd, Pi l ate
Jesus Before Pilate
released Barabbas to them. He had J esus
Very early in the morning, the chief f logged, and handed him over to be cruci
priests, with the elders, the teachers fied.
of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, m
ade
their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him The Soldiers Mock Jesus
16The sol
away and handed him over to Pilate.
d iers led Jesus away into the
2Are you the king of the Jews? a sked
palace (that is, the Praetor ium) and called
Pilate.
together the whole comp a ny of sold iers.
17They put a purple robe on him, then twist
You have said so, Jesus replied.
3The c
hief priests accused him of many ed together a c rown of t horns and set it on
t hings. 4So again Pilate asked him, Arent him. 18And they began to call out to him,
you going to answer? See how many t hings Hail, king of the Jews! 19Again and again
they are accusing youof.
they struck him on the head with a staff
5But Jesus s
till made no reply, and Pilate and spit on him. Falling on their k
nees,
was amazed.
they paid homage to him. 20And when they
6Now it was the cus
t om at the festival had mocked him, they took off the purple
to release a prisoner whom the people re robe and put his own clothes on him. Then
quested. 7A man c alled Barabbas was in they led him out to crucif y him.
prison with the insur rect ionists who had
com m it t ed murder in the upr isi ng. 8The The Crucifixion of Jesus
c rowd came up and asked Pilate to do for
21A cert ain man from Cyrene, Simon, the
them what he usua lly did.
fa
t
her of Alexa nder and Rufus, was pass
9Do you want me to release to you the
ing
by on his way in from the count ry, and
10
king of the Jews? a sked Pilate, know
22
ing it was out of self-interest that the c hief they forced him to carr y the c ross. They
b

rought

J
esus
to
the
p

lace
c

alled
Golgo
11
priests had handed J esus over to him. But
tha (which means the place of the skull).
the chief priests stirred up the c rowd to 23
Then they offered him wine m ixed with
have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12What
shall I do, then, with the one a72 Some early manuscripts do not have the second
you call the king of the Jews? Pilate asked time. b72 Some early manuscripts do not have
twice.
them.

15

Flogging

Before Roman prisoners were crucified, they

were beaten with a leather whip. This whip had
sharp pieces of metal or bone at its end. Such a
whipping drew so much blood that prisoners
who had been flogged sometimes died.

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1118

Mark 15

Simon
Simon was a man from Cyrene
(SIGH-reen) who was traveling into
Jerusalem when Jesus was taken
out to be crucified. Jesus enemies
forced Simon to carry Jesus cross
to Golgotha, where Jesus was to be
crucified. A large crowd followed
Simon and Jesus, crying and
wailing as they walked.

yrrh, but he did not take it. 24And they

m
crucif ied him. Div iding up his clothes, they
cast lots to see what each w
ould get.
25It was nine in the morning when they
cruci f ied him. 26The written not ice of the
charge against him read: the king of the
jews .
27They cru
c ified two rebels with him,
one on his r ight and one on his left. [28]a
29Those who p assed by hurled ins ults at
him, shaking t heir heads and saying, So!
You who are going to destroy the temple
and b
uild it in three days, 30come down
from the cross and save yourself! 31In the
same way the chief priests and the teach
ers of the law mocked him a mong them
selves. He s aved others, they said, but
he c ant save himself! 32Let this Messia h,
this king of Isr ael, come down now from
the c ross, that we may see and believe.
T hose cruc if ied with him also heaped in
sults on him.

see if Elijah comes to take him down, he

said.
37With a loud cry, J
esus b
reathed his
last.
38The cur
t ain of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. 39And when
the cent ur ion, who stood t here in f ront of
Jesus, saw how he died,c he said, Surely
this man was the Son of God!
40Some wom
en were watching from a
distance. A
mong them were Mary Mag
dalene, Mary the mothe r of James the
younger and of Joseph,d and Sa lome. 41In
Galilee t hese women had followed him and
c ared for his needs. Many other women
who had come up with him to Jer us alem
were also there.

The Burial of Jesus

42It was Prep

a ration Day (that is, the
day before the Sabbath). So as evening ap
proached, 43Joseph of Arimat hea, a promi
nent member of the Council, who was him
self waiting for the kingdom of God, went
boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus body.
44Pilate was surprised to hear that he was
al ready dead. Sum moni ng the cent ur ion,
he a sked him if Jesus had already died.
45When he
learned from the centurion
that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
46So Joseph b
ought some linen cloth, took
down the body, w rapped it in the linen, and
placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he
a28 Some manuscripts include here words similar
to Luke22:37. b34Psalm 22:1 c39Some
manuscripts saw that he died with such a cry
d40Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph; also in verse47

The Death of Jesus

33At noon, darkness came over the whole

land unt il t hree in the afternoon. 34And at
t hree in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a
loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
(which m
eans My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?). b
35When some of those stand
i ng near
heard this, they said, Listen, hes calling
Elijah.
36Someone ran, f illed a s
ponge with wine
vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to
Jesus to d
rink. Now l eave him a lone. L ets

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Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea (Air-im-uhTHAY-uh), a leader of the Jews,
followed Jesus secretly because he
was afraid of Jesus enemies. After
the crucifixion Joseph asked Pilate
for permission to take Jesus body
and bury it in his own new tomb.

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Mark 1516
r olled a s tone a gainst the entrance of the
tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the
mother of Joseph saw w
here he was laid.

Jesus Has Risen

16

When the Sabbath was over, Mary

Mag
d a
l ene, Mary the moth
e r of
James, and Salome bought spices so that
they m
ight go to a noint Jesus body. 2Very
early on the first day of the week, just af
ter sunr ise, they were on t heir way to the
tomb 3and they a sked each other, Who
will roll the stone away from the ent rance
of the tomb?
4But when they looked up, they saw that
the stone, which was very large, had been
rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb,
they saw a young man d ressed in a white
robe sitt ing on the r ight side, and they were
alarmed.
6Dont be a
larmed, he said. You are
looking for Jesus the Naza rene, who was
crucif ied. He has risen! He is not here. See
the place w
here they laid him. 7But go, tell
his disciples and Peter, He is going a head
of you into Galilee. T
here you will see him,
just as he told you.
8Trem
bling and bew ildered, the wom
en went out and fled from the tomb. They
said nothing to anyone, because they were
afraid.a

[The earliest manuscripts and some other

ancient witnesses do not have verses 9-2 0.]
9When Jesus rose early on the first day of the
week, he appeared first to Mary Magd alene, out

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1119

of whom he had driven seven demons. 10She went

and told those who had been with him and who
were mourning and weeping. 11When they h eard
that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him,
they did not believeit.
12Afterw ard Jesus appeared in a different form
to two of them w
hile they were walking in the coun
try. 13T hese returned and reported it to the rest;
but they did not believe them either.
14Lat
e r Jesus appeared to the Eleve n as they
were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith
and their stubborn ref usal to believe those who had
seen him after he had risen.
15He said to them, Go into all the w orld and
preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoeve r be
lieves and is baptized will be s aved, but whoever
does not believe will be condemned. 17And these
s igns will acc ompany those who believe: In my
name they will drive out demons; they will speak
in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with
their hands; and when they d rink deadly poison,
it will not hurt them at all; they will place their
hands on sick people, and they will get well.
19After the Lord Jesus had spok en to them, he
was taken up into heaven and he sat at the r ight
hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and
orked with
preached everywhere, and the Lord w
them and confirmed his word by the signs that ac
companiedit.

a8

Some manuscripts have the following ending

between verses 8 and 9, and one manuscript has it
after verse 8 (omitting verses 9-20): Then they quickly
reported all these instructions to those around Peter.
After this, Jesus himself also sent out through them from
east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation
of eternal salvation. Amen.

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