The Bible

Mark

Jesus’ words only

After John was put in prison

The time has come, The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!

Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us? 

Be quiet!  Come out of him!  

Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.

A man with leprosy came to him

I am willing, Be clean!

See that you don't tell this to anyone.  But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.

Paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven.

Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.

Follow me,

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?  They cannot, so long as they have him with them.  But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.  If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.  And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.  If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.

Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?  In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.  And he also gave some to his companions.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

The man with the shriveled hand, Stand up in front of everyone.

Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?

Stretch out your hand.

How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.  In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.  Then he can rob his house.  I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.

Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. 

Who are my mother and my brothers?

Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.

Listen!  A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil.  It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.  But to those on the outside everything is said in parables  so that,

‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!  ’

Don't you understand this parable?  How then will you understand any parable?  The farmer sows the word.  Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown.  As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.  Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;  but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.  Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.

Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?  Instead, don't you put it on its stand?  For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

Consider carefully what you hear, With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?  It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.  Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.

Let us go over to the other side.

He said to the waves, Quiet!  Be still! Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?

What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  Swear to God that you won't torture me! Come out of this man, you evil spirit!

What is your name?

Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.

Who touched my clothes? ‘Who touched me?’

Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

Your daughter is dead, Don't be afraid; just believe.

Why all this commotion and wailing?  The child is not dead but asleep.

Talitha koum! Little girl, I say to you, get up!. 

Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.

Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.  Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.  Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.  And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

You give them something to eat.

How many loaves do you have? Go and see.

they saw him walking on the lake, Take courage!  It is I.  Don't be afraid.

Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me. 

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ *

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.

You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),  then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.  And you do many things like that.

Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.  Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’  

Are you so dull? Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?  For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.

What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’

She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 

First let the children eat all they want, he told her, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.

For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.

a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,  Ephphatha! (which means, Be opened! ). 

I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.

How many loaves do you have?

The Pharisees, they asked him for a sign from heaven.  Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?  I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it. Be careful, Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.

Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not see or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?

And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?

Do you still not understand?

He took the blind man by the hand  Do you see anything? Don't go into the village. 

Who do people say I am?

But what about you?  Who do you say I am?

Peter answered, You are the Christ. 

Get behind me, Satan! he said.  You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.

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?  But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.

What are you arguing with them about?

I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.

O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you?  How long shall I put up with you?  Bring the boy to me.

How long has he been like this?

‘If you can’? Everything is possible for him who believes.

You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.

This kind can come out only by prayer. 

The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.

What were you arguing about on the road?

If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.

Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.

Do not stop him, No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,  for whoever is not against us is for us.  I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. 

And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.  If your hand causes you to sin, 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.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,  where

‘their worm does not die,

and the fire is not quenched.’ *

Everyone will be salted with fire. 

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.

Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

What did Moses command you? It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law, But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.  And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.  ’

One thing you lack, Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.

I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

We are going up to Jerusalem, he said, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.  Three days later he will rise.

What do you want me to do for you?

You don't know what you are asking, Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?

You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.  These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.

You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Son of David, have mercy on me! Call him. So they called to the blind man.  What do you want me to do for you

Go, your faith has healed you.

Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.  Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’

He said to the tree, May no one ever eat fruit from you again.

Is it not written:
‘My house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations’ ? 
But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.  ’

Have faith in God, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.  ’

Who gave you authority to do this?

I will ask you one question.  Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?  Tell me!

Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

A man planted a vineyard.  He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower.  Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.  At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully.  He sent still another, and that one they killed.  He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 

He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved.  He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.  Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’  So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 

What then will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.  Haven't you read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone ;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?

Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. Whose portrait is this?  And whose inscription?

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.

Whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?

Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?  When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.  Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ?  He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  You are badly mistaken!

Of all the commandments, which is the most important?

The most important one, is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

You are not far from the kingdom of God.

How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David?  David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.’ *

David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?

Watch out for the teachers of the law.  They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  Such men will be punished most severely.

I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.

Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

Watch out that no one deceives you.  Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.  When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.  These are the beginning of birth pains. 

You must be on your guard.  You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.  On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.  Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.  Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child.  Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 

When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.  Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.  How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.  If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive.  But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.  At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ !’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible.  So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 

But in those days, following that distress,
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ *

At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. 

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert !  You do not know when that time will come.  It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 

Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’

Leave her alone, Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.  But you will not always have me.  She did what she could.  She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him.  Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.

I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me. Surely not I?

It is one of the Twelve, one who dips bread into the bowl with me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.  But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man!  It would be better for him if he had not been born.

Take it; this is my body.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.

You will all fall away, Jesus told them, for it is written:

‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’ *

But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.

Peter declared, Even if all fall away, I will not.

I tell you the truth, today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.

Sit here while I pray. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, Stay here and keep watch.

Abba , [ Father, everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.

Simon, are you asleep?  Could you not keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Are you still sleeping and resting?  Enough!  The hour has come.  Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise!  Let us go!  Here comes my betrayer!

Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?

I am, And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.

Are you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate. 

Yes, it is as you say,

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.