Holman Christian Standard Bible (296 page)

5
 “How many loaves do you have? ”
He asked them.

“Seven,” they said.
6
 Then He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks, broke the loaves, and kept on giving them to His disciples to set before the people. So they served the loaves to the crowd.
7
 They also had a few small fish, and when He had blessed them, He said these were to be served as well.
8
 They ate and were filled. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces.
9
 About 4,000 men were there. He dismissed them
10
 and immediately got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

11
 The 
•Pharisees
 came out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign from heaven to test Him.
12
 But sighing deeply in His spirit, He said,
“Why does this generation demand a sign?
•I assure you
: No sign will be given to this generation! ”
13
 Then He left them, got on board the boat again, and went to the other side.

14
 They had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15
 Then He commanded them:
“Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of
•Herod
.”
 

16
 They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread.
17
 Aware of this, He said to them,
“Why are you discussing that you do not have any bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened?
 
18
 
Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?
And do you not remember? 
19
 When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect? ”

“Twelve,” they told Him.

“Seven,” they said.

21
 And He said to them,
“Don't you understand yet? ”
 

Healing a Blind Man

22
 Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him.
23
 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him,
“Do you see anything? ”

24
 He looked up and said, “I see people — they look to me like trees walking.” 

25
 Again Jesus placed His hands on the man's eyes, and he saw distinctly. He was cured and could see everything clearly.
26
 Then He sent him home, saying,
“Don't even go into the village.”

Peter's Confession of the Messiah

27
 Jesus went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples,
“Who do people say that I am? ”

28
 They answered Him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” 

29
 “But you,”
He asked them again,
“who do you say that I am? ”

Peter answered Him, “You are the
•Messiah
! ” 

30
 And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.

His Death and Resurrection Predicted

31
 Then He began to teach them that the
•Son
of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the
•chief
priests, and the
•scribes
, be killed, and rise after three days. 
32
 He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

33
 But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said,
“Get behind Me, Satan, because you're not thinking about God's concerns,
 
but man's! ”

Take Up Your Cross

34
 Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them,
“If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 
35
 For whoever wants to save his
•life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. 
36
 For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life?
 
37
 What can a man give in exchange for his life? 
38
 For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
 

Mark

9
Then He said to them,
“
•I assure you
: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
 

The Transfiguration

2
 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transformed in front of them,
3
 and His clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.
4
 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

5
 Then Peter said to Jesus, “
•Rabbi
, it's good for us to be here! Let us make three
•tabernacles
: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —
6
 because he did not know what he should say, since they were terrified. 

7
 A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: 

8
 Then suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.

9
 As they were coming down from the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the
•Son
of Man had risen from the dead. 
10
 They kept this word to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

11
 Then they began to question Him, “Why do the
•scribes
 say that Elijah must come first? ” 

12
 “Elijah does come first and restores everything,”
 He replied.
“How then is it written about the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 
13
 But I tell you that Elijah really has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

The Power of Faith over a Demon

14
 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.
15
 All of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him.
16
 Then He asked them,
“What are you arguing with them about? ”

17
 Out of the crowd, one man answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. 
18
 Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.”

19
 He replied to them,
“You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to Me.”
20
 So they brought him to Him. When the spirit saw Him, it immediately convulsed the boy. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21
 “How long has this been happening to him? ”
Jesus asked his father.

“From childhood,” he said.
22
 “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

23
 Then Jesus said to him,
“ ‘If You can? '
Everything is possible to the one who believes.”
 

24
 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

25
 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the
•unclean
 spirit, saying to it,
“You mute and deaf spirit,
 
I command you: come out of him and never enter him again! ”

26
 Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He's dead.”
27
 But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

28
 After He went into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn't we drive it out? ”

29
 And He told them,
“This kind can come out by nothing but prayer 
[and fasting ].”

The Second Prediction of His Death

30
 Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but He did not want anyone to know it. 
31
 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is being betrayed
 
into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after He is killed, He will rise three days later.”
 
32
 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. 

Who is the Greatest?

33
 Then they came to Capernaum. When He was in the house, He asked them,
“What were you arguing about on the way? ”
 
34
 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. 
35
 Sitting down, He called the Twelve and said to them,
“If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
 
36
 Then He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,
37
 “Whoever welcomes
 
one little child such as this in My name welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me, but Him who sent Me.”
 

In His Name

38
 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn't following us.” 

39
 “Don't stop him,”
said Jesus,
“because there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name who can soon afterward speak evil of Me.
40
 For whoever is not against us is for us. 
41
 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name,
 
since you belong to the
•Messiah
  — I assure you: He will never lose his reward.
 

Warnings from Jesus

42
 “But whoever
•causes
the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me  — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone
were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43
 And if your hand causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to
•hell
 — the unquenchable fire,
 
[
44
 where

49
 For everyone will be salted with fire.
, 
50
 Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

Mark

The Question of Divorce

10
He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on Him again and, as He usually did, He began teaching them once more.
2
 Some
•Pharisees
 approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? ” 

3
 He replied to them,
“What did Moses command you? ”

4
 They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.” 

5
 But Jesus told them,
“He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. 
6
 But from the beginning of creation God
 
made them male and female.