Teen Study Bible: Gospel of Mark

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ContentsTable of

>> Old TesTamenTGenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3191 Sam uel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3262 Sam uel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3691 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4052 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4451 Chron icles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4842 Chron icles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1065Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135

Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1139Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1145Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1151Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168

>> new TesTamenTMatthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1225Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1255John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1306Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13901 Co rin thi ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14122 Co rin thi ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1434Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1448Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1456Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1464Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14711 Thes salo nians . . . . . . . . . . . 14792 Thes salo nians . . . . . . . . . . . 14861 Tim othy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14902 Tim othy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1498Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1503Philemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1507Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1509James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15271 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15342 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15431 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15482 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15553 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1557Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1560Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1563

Weights and Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1589What Do I Read Today? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1591Bible Truth Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1595Teen Life Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1599

How to Use this Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viPreface to the New International Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii


PanOrama — To help keep the big picture of each book of the Bible in view, this feature reminds you of the main theme from each book of the Bible as you work your way through it .

dear JOrdan — Are you looking for advice? Jordan willingly gives it . The questions you ask most often are answered in this advice column . The answers are based on a biblical character or situation . The characters of the Bible lived thousands of years ago . The teachings were written down thousands of years ago . But guess what! They are still relevant for today . And “Dear Jordan” shows you how .

TO The POinT — Does the Bible say anything about the problems and issues you face every day? Yes! “To the Point” shows you where and explains a passage of Scripture in the process .

1 Sam uel 21 355

have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t

brought my sword or any oth er weap on, be

cause the king’s busi ness was ur gent.”

9 The priest re plied, “The sword of Go li

ath the Phi lis tine, whom you killed in the

Val ley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a

cloth be hind the ephod. If you want it, take

it; there is no sword here but that one.”

Da vid said, “There is none like it; give

it to me.”

David at Gath10 That day Da vid fled from Saul and

went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the

ser vants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this

Da vid, the king of the land? Isn’t he the

one they sing about in their dances:

how ev er, there is some con se crat ed

bread here—pro vid ed the men have kept

them selves from women.”

5 Da vid re plied, “In deed wom en have

been kept from us, as usu al when ev er a I

set out. The men’s things b are holy even

on mis sions that are not holy. How much

more so to day!” 6 So the priest gave him

the con se crat ed bread, since there was

no bread there ex cept the bread of the

Pres ence that had been re moved from be

fore the Lord and re placed by hot bread

on the day it was tak en away.

7 Now one of Saul’s ser vants was there

that day, de tained be fore the Lord; he was

Doeg the Edom ite, Saul’s head shep herd.

8 Da vid asked Ahim e lech, “Don’t you

to the pointLies Don’t Help

Have you ever been tempted to get out of trouble by telling a

lie? Most everyone has. Even Bible heroes were tempted to lie.

•AbramliedandsaidSaraiwashissister — and got into

trouble in Egypt (Genesis 12:10 – 20).

•Jacobliedtohisfather — and made his brother so angry that

Jacobhadtoruntosafety(Genesis27:34–45).

•DavidliedinordertogethelpfromAhimelechthe

priest — andlaterKingSaulkilledtheinnocen

tpriestand

hisfamilyforhelpingDavidescape(1Samuel21 – 22).

When tempted to lie, remember: “The Lord detests lying lips,

but he delights in men who are truthful” (Proverbs 12:22).

a 5 Or from us in the past few days since b 5 Or bodies

How to Usethis Bible

As an on-the-go teen, you’re moving fast . God is moving faster! The Teen Study Bible will help you keep in step with all he has done, is doing, and will do in the world — and in your life . This best-selling Bible will help you discover the eternal truths of God’s Word and apply them to the issues you face today . Features include:

De

ar

Jord

an

I’m the older of two boys. My parents favor me. I used to think it was funny, but now I feel bad for my younger brother. He’s having problems and I want to be there for him. What can I do?>> Jacob

Dear Jacob,You are showing wisdom about this situation and compas-sion for your brother. Many parents show favoritism and it can be very damaging for the whole family. Joseph’s father favored him over all his other sons, though Joseph wasn’t the oldest.

His brothers sold him and told their father he had been killed. This broke their father’s heart and made them feel guilty. Favoritism led to jealousy, and the jealousy of his brothers caused many difficult years for Joseph. This story appears in Genesis 37.

It’s important for you to let your brother know you love him. Maybe you could have a talk with one or both of your parents to gently share your concerns. They may not even be aware that they treat your brother differently. Your attitude toward your brother can make a big difference in his life as well as in the lives of your family.Jordan

we Believe — Throughout this Bible, an exciting feature called “We Believe” lays out the foundation of the Chris-tian faith by explaining the Apostles’ Creed, statement by statement, linking each one to the Bible passage that supports it . This feature will help you remember what Chris-tians around the world agree on and will equip you to handle the many questions you are asked and challenges you face regarding your faith .

Genesis 35 45We are few in num ber, and if they join forc es against me and at tack me, I and my house hold will be de stroyed.”31 But they re plied, “Should he have treat ed our sis ter like a pros ti tute?”

Jacob Returns to Bethel35 Then God said to Ja cob, “Go up to Beth el and set tle there, and build an al tar there to God, who ap peared to you when you were flee ing from your broth er Esau.”2 So Ja cob said to his house hold and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the for eign gods you have with you, and puri fy your selves and change your clothes.

3 Then come, let us go up to Beth el, where I will build an al tar to God, who an swered me in the day of my dis tress and who has been with me wher ev er I have gone.” 4 So they gave Ja cob all the for eign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Ja cob bur ied them un der the oak at She chem. 5 Then they set out, and the ter ror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pur sued them.6 Ja cob and all the peo ple with him came to Luz (that is, Beth el) in the land of Ca naan. 7 There he built an al tar, and he called the place El Beth el, b be cause it was there that God re vealed him self to him when he was flee ing from his brother.

for them. We can mar ry their daugh ters and they can mar ry ours. 22 But the men will con sent to live with us as one people only on the con di tion that our males be cir cum cised, as they them selves are. 23 Won’t their live stock, their prop er ty and all their oth er an i mals be come ours? So let us give our con sent to them, and they will set tle among us.”24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Ha mor and his son Shechem, and ev ery male in the city was circum cised.25 Three days lat er, while all of them were still in pain, two of Ja cob’s sons, Sim e on and Levi, Di nah’s broth ers, took their swords and at tacked the un suspect ing city, kill ing ev ery male. 26 They put Ha mor and his son She chem to the sword and took Di nah from She chem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Ja cob came upon the dead bod ies and loot ed the city where a their sis ter had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and don keys and ev ery thing else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They car ried off all their wealth and all their wom en and chil dren, tak ing as plun der ev ery thing in the houses.30 Then Ja cob said to Sim e on and Levi, “You have brought trou ble on me by making me a stench to the Ca naan ites and Per iz zites, the peo ple liv ing in this land.

a 27 Or because b 7 El Bethel means God of Bethel.

panoramaBeginnings.The word “Genesis” means “begin-nings.” It answers some of life’s biggest questions. God truly cares about the people he created.

{Ge

ne

sIs

}

We Believe . . . { Joh

n 3

:16 }

“We believe”

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and

only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eter-

nal life.”

What does “believe” mean? First, it doesn’t mean “know the facts

about.” We know a lot of facts about Napoleon and George Wash-

ington, for instance. But believing those facts — accepting them as

true — doesn’t make an eternal difference.

What makes believing in Jesus or any Bible truth different is that

little word, “in.” To “believe in” is different from believing informa-

tion “about.” To “believe in” means we put our trust in Jesus. We rely

on Jesus; we count on him and count on truths found in the Bible.

A circus performer was about to walk a tightrope stretched over

Niagara Falls. He asked the crowd, “Who believes I can carry a man

across on my back?” One man shouted out, “I do! I do!”

The circus performer said, “All right, you’re first.” The man ran away

as fast as he could. He believed something about the performer, but

he didn’t believe in the performer.

To “believe in” Jesus means trusting ourselves to him completely. To

“believe in” what the Bible says means we rely on God’s Word so com-

pletely that we build our lives on its teachings.

Check out what Jesus said one day. It’s recorded in Matthew 7:24 – 27.

And then decide to believe in Jesus.

Go to page 736 for the next We Believe


How to Use this Bible vii

Key indexes — Help with in-depth Bible study . The Bible Truth Index is tied to the “We Believe” and “To the Point” features . The Teen Life Index is tied to the “Instant Access” and “Dear Jordan” features . And the “We Believe” index provides a guide for where each of these features can be found in your Bible .

Best of all, The Teen Study Bible contains the full text of the New International Version of the Bible . It’s contemporary, it’s accurate, and it’s written in language you can understand .

insTanT access — You’ve probably already faced lots of hard situations in your life . And you’ve probably wondered at times, “What do I do?!” “Instant Access” covers almost every problem and situation you can think of . It does it directly and honestly, telling you what God has to say .

BiBle PrOmises — There are many great verses in the Bible . This feature highlights some of them for you .

BOOK inTrOducTiOns — Provide an overview for each of the 66 books of the Bible and relates it to your life . Includes “headlines” that outline key events that happen, and a “news ticker” along the bottom that lets you know what was happening in the world when each book was written .

Q&a — If you like trivia, this feature is for you . Tests your knowledge of the Bible .

whaT dO i read TOday? — If you’ve been wondering what to read in the Bible or where to start, there’s a reading plan in the back to get you going .

Genesis 33 43

29 Ja cob said, “Please tell me your

name.”But he re plied, “Why do you ask my

name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Ja cob called the place Pe ni el, b

say ing, “It is be cause I saw God face to

face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed

Pe ni el, c and he was limp ing be cause of

his hip. 32 There fore to this day the Is ra-

el ites do not eat the ten don at tached to

the sock et of the hip, be cause the sock-

et of Ja cob’s hip was touched near the

ten don.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Ja cob looked up and there was

Esau, com ing with his four hun-

dred men; so he di vid ed the chil dren

among Leah, Ra chel and the two maid-

ser vants. 2 He put the maid ser vants and

their chil dren in front, Leah and her chil-

dren next, and Ra chel and Jo seph in the

rear. 3 He him self went on ahead and

bowed down to the ground sev en times

as he ap proached his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet Ja cob and em-

braced him; he threw his arms around

his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

5 Then Esau looked up and saw the wom-

en and chil dren. “Who are these with

you?” he asked.

Ja cob an swered, “They are the chil dren

God has gra cious ly giv en your ser vant.”

6 Then the maid ser vants and their chil-

dren ap proached and bowed down. 7 Next,

Leah and her chil dren came and bowed

down. Last of all came Jo seph and Ra-

chel, and they too bowed down.

8 Esau asked, “What do you mean by all

these droves I met?”

“To find fa vor in your eyes, my lord,”

he said.9 But Esau said, “I al ready have plen-

ty, my broth er. Keep what you have for

your self.”10 “No, please!” said Ja cob. “If I have

found fa vor in your eyes, ac cept this gift

from me. For to see your face is like see-

ing the face of God, now that you have

re ceived me fa vor ably. 11 Please ac cept

Ja cob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched

as he wres tled with the man. 26 Then

the man said, “Let me go, for it is day-

break.”But Ja cob re plied, “I will not let you go

un less you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your

name?”“Ja cob,” he an swered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will

no lon ger be Ja cob, but Is ra el, a be cause

you have strug gled with God and with

men and have over come.”

a 28 Israel means he struggles with God. b 30 Peniel means face of God. c 31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel

>> in

stan

t a

cces

s

When is the last time

you were terrified

enough to pray hard? How did

you pray? Jacob was terrified

when returning to his home

in Canaan. He had cheated his

brother Esau 20 years before,

and Esau had sworn to kill

him. Would Esau still be angry?

Here’s how Jacob prayed when

he was afraid: Jacob reminded

God that he was being obedient

(Genesis 32:9). Jacob remem-

bered all the good things God

had done for him (Genesis

32:10). Jacob begged God to

save him (Genesis 32:11). Jacob

quoted God’s promises (Genesis

32:12). What a model for your

prayers when you’re anxious or

afraid.

{Genesis 32:1 – 12}

98 Exodus 26 99Exodus 25

22 Make six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tab er na cle, 23 and make two frames for the cor ners at the far end. 24 At these two cor ners they must be dou ble from the bot tom all the way to the top, and fit ted into a sin gle ring; both shall be like that. 25 So there will be eight frames and six teen sil ver bas es—two un-der each frame.

26 “Also make cross bars of aca cia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tab er na cle, 27 five for those on the oth-er side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tab er na cle. 28 The cen ter cross bar is to ex tend from end to end at the mid dle of the frames. 29 Over lay the frames with gold and make gold rings to hold the cross bars. Also over lay the cross bars with gold.

30 “Set up the tab er na cle ac cord ing to the plan shown you on the moun tain.

31 “Make a cur tain of blue, pur ple and scar let yarn and fine ly twist ed lin en, with cher u bim worked into it by a skilled crafts man. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of aca cia wood over laid with

and blue, pur ple and scar let yarn, with cher u bim worked into them by a skilled crafts man. 2 All the cur tains are to be the same size—twen ty- eight cu bits long and four cu bits wide. a 3 Join five of the cur-tains to geth er, and do the same with the oth er five. 4 Make loops of blue ma teri al along the edge of the end cur tain in one set, and do the same with the end cur tain in the oth er set. 5 Make fif ty loops on one cur tain and fif ty loops on the end cur tain of the oth er set, with the loops op po site each oth er. 6 Then make fif ty gold clasps and use them to fas ten the cur tains to-geth er so that the tab er na cle is a unit.

7 “Make cur tains of goat hair for the tent over the tab er na cle—elev en al to-geth er. 8 All elev en cur tains are to be the same size—thir ty cu bits long and four cu bits wide. b 9 Join five of the cur tains to geth er into one set and the oth er six into an oth er set. Fold the sixth cur tain dou ble at the front of the tent. 10 Make fif ty loops along the edge of the end cur-tain in one set and also along the edge of the end cur tain in the oth er set. 11 Then make fif ty bronze clasps and put them in the loops to fas ten the tent to geth er as a unit. 12 As for the ad di tion al length of the tent cur tains, the half cur tain that is left over is to hang down at the rear of the tab er na cle. 13 The tent cur tains will be a cu bit c lon ger on both sides; what is left will hang over the sides of the tab er na cle so as to cov er it. 14 Make for the tent a cov er ing of ram skins dyed red, and over that a cov er ing of hides of sea cows. d

15 “Make up right frames of aca cia wood for the tab er na cle. 16 Each frame is to be ten cu bits long and a cu bit and a half wide, e 17 with two pro jec tions set par al-lel to each oth er. Make all the frames of the tab er na cle in this way. 18 Make twen-ty frames for the south side of the tab-er na cle 19 and make for ty sil ver bas es to go un der them—two bas es for each frame, one un der each pro jec tion. 20 For the oth er side, the north side of the tab-er na cle, make twen ty frames 21 and for-ty sil ver bas es—two un der each frame.

wide and put a gold mold ing on the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for the ta ble and fas ten them to the four cor ners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in car ry ing the ta ble. 28 Make the poles of aca cia wood, over lay them with gold and car ry the ta ble with them. 29 And make its plates and dish es of pure gold, as well as its pitch ers and bowls for the pour ing out of of fer ings. 30 Put the bread of the Pres ence on this ta ble to be be fore me at all times.

The Lampstand31 “Make a lamp stand of pure gold and

ham mer it out, base and shaft; its flow-er like cups, buds and blos soms shall be of one piece with it. 32 Six branch es are to ex tend from the sides of the lamp stand—three on one side and three on the oth er. 33 Three cups shaped like al mond flow ers with buds and blos soms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branch es ex tend ing from the lamp stand. 34 And on the lamp stand there are to be four cups shaped like al-mond flow ers with buds and blos soms. 35 One bud shall be un der the first pair of branch es ex tend ing from the lamp stand, a sec ond bud un der the sec ond pair, and a third bud un der the third pair—six branch es in all. 36 The buds and branch es shall all be of one piece with the lamp-stand, ham mered out of pure gold.

37 “Then make its sev en lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38 Its wick trim mers and trays are to be of pure gold. 39 A tal ent e of pure gold is to be used for the lamp stand and all these ac ces so ries. 40 See that you make them ac cord ing to the pat tern shown you on the moun tain.

The Tabernacle

26 “Make the tab er na cle with ten cur tains of fine ly twist ed lin en

chest to car ry it. 15 The poles are to re-main in the rings of this ark; they are not to be re moved. 16 Then put in the ark the Tes ti mo ny, which I will give you.

17 “Make an atone ment cov er a of pure gold—two and a half cu bits long and a cu-bit and a half wide. b 18 And make two cher-u bim out of ham mered gold at the ends of the cov er. 19 Make one cher ub on one end and the sec ond cher ub on the oth er; make the cher u bim of one piece with the cov er, at the two ends. 20 The cher u bim are to have their wings spread up ward, over shad ow ing the cov er with them. The cher u bim are to face each oth er, look ing to ward the cov er. 21 Place the cov er on top of the ark and put in the ark the Tes ti mo-ny, which I will give you. 22 There, above the cov er be tween the two cher u bim that are over the ark of the Tes ti mo ny, I will meet with you and give you all my com-mands for the Is ra el ites.

The Table23 “Make a ta ble of aca cia wood—two

cu bits long, a cu bit wide and a cu bit and a half high. c 24 Over lay it with pure gold and make a gold mold ing around it. 25 Also make around it a rim a hand breadth d

a 2 That is, about 42 feet (about 12.5 meters) long and 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) wide b 8 That is, about 45 feet (about 13.5 meters) long and 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) wide c 13 That is, about 1 1/2 feet (about 0.5 meter) d 14 That is, dugongs e 16 That is, about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) long and 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter) wide

a 17 Traditionally a mercy seat b 17 That is, about 3 3/4 feet (about 1.1 meters) long and 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter) wide c 23 That is, about 3 feet (about 0.9 meter) long and 1 1/2 feet (about 0.5 meter) wide and 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter) high d 25 That is, about 3 inches (about 8 centimeters) e 39 That is, about 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms)

Exodus 25Q: What did the ark of God look like?

BONUS: Why isn’t the ark in Jerusalem today?

Answers on next page

A: It was a small, gold-covered box topped with two gold angels (Exodus 25:10 – 22).

BONUS: It was taken to Babylon when the two tribes of Judah went into captivity (2 Chron icles 36:18) and has never been found since.

1194 Matthew 11

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valu able is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is law ful to do good on the Sab bath.”13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was complete ly re stored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Phar i sees went out and plot ted how they might kill Jesus.

God’s Chosen Servant15 Aware of this, Jesus with drew from that place. Many fol lowed him, and he healed all their sick, 16 warn ing them not to tell who he was. 17 This was to ful fill what was spo ken through the proph et Isa iah:

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.” c

Jesus and Beelzebub22 Then they brought him a de monpossessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the peo ple were as ton ished and said, “Could this be the Son of Da vid?”24 But when the Phar i sees heard this, they said, “It is only by Be el ze bub, d the

be cause you have hid den these things from the wise and learned, and re vealed them to lit tle chil dren. 26 Yes, Fa ther, for this was your good plea sure.27 “All things have been commit ted to me by my Fa ther. No one knows the Son except the Fa ther, and no one knows the Fa ther ex cept the Son and those to whom the Son choos es to re veal him.28 “Come to me, all you who are wea ry and bur dened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gen tle and hum ble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Lord of the Sabbath12 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sab bath. His dis ci ples were hun gry and be gan to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Phar i sees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your dis ci ples are do ing what is un law ful on the Sab bath.”3 He an swered, “Haven’t you read what Da vid did when he and his com pan ions were hun gry? 4 He en tered the house of God, and he and his com pan ions ate the con se crat ed bread—which was not law ful for them to do, but only for the priests.

5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sab bath the priests in the tem ple des e crate the day and yet are in no cent? 6 I tell you that one a great er than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I de sire mer cy, not sac rifice,’ b you would not have con demned the in no cent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sab bath.”

9 Go ing on from that place, he went into their syn a gogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Look ing for a reason to ac cuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it law ful to heal on the Sab bath?”a 6 Or something ; also in verses 41 and 42 b 7 Hosea 6:6 c 21 Isaiah 42:14 d 24 Greek Beezeboul or

Beelzeboul ; also in verse 27

Come to me, all you who are weary and

burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

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Joshua

Joshua’s name

means “The

LORD saves.”

Only one man

who was a slave in

Egypt lives to enter

Canaan: Caleb (Joshua

14:6 – 15)

Joshua casts lots to

divide the land to let

God choose which

tribe settles where.

The Winner!

What does it take to win? In sports it takes

dedication, practice, and hard work. Spiritual

victories take dedication too. And something

else: obedience. You can enjoy spiritual victo-

ries if you keep looking to God for guidance

and then live by his Word.

Joshua is a book about victory and defeat.

Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery,

has died. Now under a new leader, God’s peo-

ple must invade a heavily populated land. At

Jericho and Ai, Israel learns the importance

of obedience. It takes ten years, but finally

Canaan is subdued and the promised land is

divided among Israel’s 12 tribes.

>>ONE SIZE ADVICE FITS ALL

Success principles summarized, Joshua 1:9

>>SHOUTS STUN JERICHO CITIZENS

Report from the front lines, see Joshua 6:12 – 21

>>SINNER WELCOMED BY GOD’S PEOPLE

Woman’s past forgiven, report in Joshua 6:22 – 25

>>CAPITAL PUNISHMENT DEBATE RESOLVED

Legal principles defined, see Joshua 20

>>JOSHUA SAYS, CHOOSERetiring leader’s challenge quoted in Joshua 24:15

As the Israelites are at war in Canaan, the capital city of Crete is destroyed by fire.

Several board games are carved on the flat roof of a temple in Kuma, Egypt.


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Mark

Mark is not one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He records Peter’s stories about Jesus.

A key word in this book is “immediately.”

As Jesus grows to adulthood, Judea becomes a Roman province. Augustus dies, and Tiberius becomes Roman emperor.

who?What kind of people do you like? The guys who play sports? The girls who are popular? Kids who study? Who are good-looking? Who dress in style? Or do you look for someone kind and friendly?

Mark wrote his Gospel to show that Jesus was the kind of person that the Romans in the em-pire would appreciate. Mark shows Jesus as a man of action, a man with authority. Jesus came to earth with a mission, and he didn’t rest until he finished what he came here to do.

>>deMonS give uP, PurSue Future in PigSStory in Mark 5:1 – 20

>>dirty dinerS, not dirty dinnerSTeaching confounds Pharisees. See Mark 7:14 – 23

>>“Servant” toP JoB in coMing kingdoMQuestion gets unexpected answer. Report in Mark 10:35 – 45

>>teMPLe BuSineSSMen BuSted By JeSuSExciting event reported in Mark 11:12 – 19

The first Chinese census is taken. The Maya develop the “Long Count” calendar. The Roman poet Ovid dies in exile.

05_matt_acts_niv_teenstudy_FINAL.indd 51 2/28/11 1:14 PM

Mark 1 1226

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

9 At that time Jesus came from Naz areth in Gal i lee and was bap tized by John in the Jor dan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the wa ter, he saw heav en be ing torn open and the Spir it de scend ing on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heav en: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spir it sent him out into the wil der ness, 13 and he was in the wilder ness for ty days, be ing tempt ed f by Satan. He was with the wild an i mals, and an gels at tend ed him.

Jesus Announces the Good News

14 Af ter John was put in pris on, Jesus went into Gal i lee, pro claim ing the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The king dom of God has come near. Re pent and be lieve the good news!”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples16 As Jesus walked be side the Sea of

Gal i lee, he saw Si mon and his broth er Andrew cast ing a net into the lake, for they were fish er men. 17 “Come, fol low me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for peo ple.” 18 At once they left their nets and fol lowed him.

19 When he had gone a lit tle far ther, he saw James son of Zeb e dee and his brother John in a boat, pre par ing their nets. 20 With out de lay he called them, and they left their fa ther Zeb e dee in the boat with the hired men and fol lowed him.

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit

21 They went to Ca per na um, and when the Sab bath came, Jesus went into the syn a gogue and be gan to teach. 22 The peo ple were amazed at his teach ing, because he taught them as one who had au thor i ty, not as the teach ers of the law.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The be gin ning of the good news about Jesus the Mes si ah, a the Son of God, b

2 as it is writ ten in Isa iah the proph et:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way” c — 3 “a voice of one calling in the

wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” d

4 And so John the Bap tist ap peared in the wil der ness, preach ing a bap tism of re pen tance for the for give ness of sins. 5 The whole Ju de an coun try side and all the peo ple of Je ru sa lem went out to him. Con fess ing their sins, they were bap tized by him in the Jor dan Riv er. 6 John wore cloth ing made of cam el’s hair, with a leath er belt around his waist, and he ate lo custs and wild hon ey. 7 And this was his mes sage: “Af ter me comes the one more pow er ful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not wor thy to stoop down and un tie. 8 I bap tize you with e wa ter, but he will bap tize you with e the Holy Spir it.”

a 1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One. b 1 Some manuscripts do not have the Son of God. c 2 Mal. 3:1 d 3 Isaiah 40:3 e 8 Or in f 13 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested.

Mark 1Q: what disease is mentioned most in the Bible?

BonuS: why was this disease so terrible?

answers on next page


Mark 2 1227

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

40 A man with lep ro sy a came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Jesus was in dig nant. b He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Im me di ate ly the lep ro sy left him and he was cleansed.

43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warn ing: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to any one. But go, show your self to the priest and of fer the sac ri fic es that Mo ses com mand ed for your cleans ing, as a tes ti mo ny to them.” 45 In stead he went out and be gan to talk free ly, spread ing the news. As a re sult, Jesus could no longer en ter a town open ly but stayed outside in lone ly plac es. Yet the peo ple still came to him from ev ery where.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

2 A few days lat er, when Jesus again entered Ca per na um, the peo ple heard

that he had come home. 2 They gath ered

23 Just then a man in their syn a gogue who was pos sessed by an im pure spir it cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Naz a reth? Have you come to de stroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be qui et!” said Jesus stern ly. “Come out of him!” 26 The im pure spir it shook the man vi o lent ly and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The peo ple were all so amazed that they asked each oth er, “What is this? A new teach ing — and with au thor i ty! He even gives or ders to im pure spir its and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quick ly over the whole re gion of Gal i lee.

Jesus Heals Many29 As soon as they left the syn a gogue,

they went with James and John to the home of Si mon and An drew. 30 Si mon’s moth erinlaw was in bed with a fe ver, and they im me di ate ly told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fe ver left her and she be gan to wait on them.

32 That eve ning af ter sun set the peo ple brought to Jesus all the sick and de monpos sessed. 33 The whole town gath ered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had var i ous dis eas es. He also drove out many de mons, but he would not let the de mons speak be cause they knew who he was.

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place35 Very ear ly in the morn ing, while

it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a sol i tary place, where he prayed. 36 Si mon and his compan ions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they ex claimed: “Ev eryone is look ing for you!”

38 Jesus re plied, “Let us go some where else — to the near by vil lag es — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he trav eled through out Gali lee, preach ing in their syn a gogues and driv ing out de mons.

a: Leprosy (Mark 1:40), also called an “infectious skin dis-ease” (Leviticus 13).

BonuS: victims were com-pletely isolated; they couldn’t worship or live with uninfected people. they couldn’t even touch them.

a 40 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin. b 41 Many manuscripts Jesus was filled with compassion


Mark 2 1228

but the sick. I have not come to call the righ teous, but sin ners.”

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

18 Now John’s dis ci ples and the Phari sees were fast ing. Some peo ple came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s dis ci ples and the dis ci ples of the Phar isees are fast ing, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus an swered, “How can the guests of the bride groom fast while he is with them? They can not, so long as they

in such large num bers that there was no room left, not even out side the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bring ing to him a par a lyzed man, car ried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus be cause of the crowd, they made an open ing in the roof above Jesus by dig ging through it and then low ered the mat the man was ly ing on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the par a lyzed man, “Son, your sins are for giv en.”

6 Now some teach ers of the law were sit ting there, think ing to them selves, 7 “Why does this fel low talk like that? He’s blas phem ing! Who can for give sins but God alone?”

8 Im me di ate ly Jesus knew in his spir it that this was what they were think ing in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you think ing these things? 9 Which is eas i er: to say to this par a lyzed man, ‘Your sins are for giv en,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has author i ty on earth to for give sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed ev ery one and they praised God, say ing, “We have nev er seen any thing like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

13 Once again Jesus went out be side the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he be gan to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Al phae us sitting at the tax col lec tor’s booth. “Fol low me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and fol lowed him.

15 While Jesus was hav ing din ner at Levi’s house, many tax col lec tors and sinners were eat ing with him and his dis ciples, for there were many who fol lowed him. 16 When the teach ers of the law who were Phar i sees saw him eat ing with the sin ners and tax col lec tors, they asked his dis ci ples: “Why does he eat with tax collec tors and sin ners?”

17 On hear ing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doc tor,

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I have not used this one in the page layout, but Including it in case you want it.

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You know that prayer is important. Everyone

knows that. But it’s not easy to find the time. Jesus was so busy it was hard for him to find time too. Mark says that Jesus’ solution was to get up “very early in the morning, while it was still dark” and slip away to a “solitary place” where he could pray in private (Mark 1:35). Maybe you’re not a “morning person.” But setting your alarm just five or ten minutes early would give you time to start the day off right. And if you can’t find a private place to pray, try the bathroom. You might find that getting up early for prayer can be important for you too.

{Mark 1:35 – 37}


Mark 3 1229

Crowds Follow Jesus7 Jesus with drew with his dis ci ples to

the lake, and a large crowd from Gal i lee fol lowed. 8 When they heard about all he was do ing, many peo ple came to him from Ju dea, Je ru sa lem, Id u mea, and the re gions across the Jor dan and around Tyre and Si don. 9 Be cause of the crowd he told his dis ci ples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the peo ple from crowd ing him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with dis eas es were pushing for ward to touch him. 11 When ev er the im pure spir its saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict or ders not to tell oth ers about him.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve13 Jesus went up on a moun tain side

and called to him those he want ed, and they came to him. 14 He ap point ed twelve a that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have au thor i ty to drive out de mons. 16 These are the twelve he ap point ed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Pe ter), 17 James son of Zeb e dee and his broth er John (to them he gave the name Bo a nerges, which means “sons of thun der”), 18 An drew, Phil ip, Bar thol o mew, Mat thew, Thom as, James son of Al phae us, Thaddae us, Si mon the Zeal ot 19 and Ju das Iscar i ot, who be trayed him.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law

20 Then Jesus en tered a house, and again a crowd gath ered, so that he and his dis ci ples were not even able to eat. 21 When his fam i ly b heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

22 And the teach ers of the law who came down from Je ru sa lem said, “He is pos sessed by Be el ze bul! By the prince of de mons he is driv ing out de mons.”

23 So Jesus called them over to him and be gan to speak to them in par ables: “How can Sa tan drive out Sa tan?

have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bride groom will be tak en from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of un shrunk cloth on an old gar ment. Other wise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wine skins. Other wise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wine skins will be ru ined. No, they pour new wine into new wine skins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath23 One Sab bath Jesus was go ing

through the grain fields, and as his disci ples walked along, they be gan to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Phar i sees said to him, “Look, why are they do ing what is un law ful on the Sab bath?”

25 He an swered, “Have you nev er read what Da vid did when he and his com panions were hun gry and in need? 26 In the days of Abi a thar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the conse crat ed bread, which is law ful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his com pan ions.”

27 Then he said to them, “The Sab bath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sab bath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 An oth er time Jesus went into the syna gogue, and a man with a shriv eled

hand was there. 2 Some of them were look ing for a rea son to ac cuse Jesus, so they watched him close ly to see if he would heal him on the Sab bath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriv eled hand, “Stand up in front of ev ery one.”

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is law ful on the Sab bath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they re mained si lent.

5 He looked around at them in an ger and, deep ly dis tressed at their stub born hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was com plete ly re stored. 6 Then the Phari sees went out and be gan to plot with the He ro di ans how they might kill Jesus.

a 14 Some manuscripts twelve — designating them apostles — b 21 Or his associates


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Last week a girl at my school was talking about unforgivable sins. Are there really sins that can’t be forgiven? What would they be?

>> Kayla

Dear Kayla,

The Bible speaks of one sin that is unforgivable and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). The word blasphemy means having contempt or hostility toward God.

In Mark 3, Jesus had been performing miracles of heal-ing, giving clear evidence that he is God. But the teachers of the law began accusing him of doing these things by the power of Satan. Then they accused him of being possessed by the prince of demons. Instead of recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, they said his power was from Satan and he was possessed.

The men couldn’t deny the great healing miracles Jesus performed, so instead they gave credit to Satan. This was the one unforgivable sin: saying Jesus had been given power by Satan.

Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins. We may ask for forgiveness and we are assured we have been washed clean.

Jordan


Mark 4 1231

crop, some mul ti ply ing thir ty, some six ty, some a hun dred times.”

9 Then Jesus said, “Who ev er has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the oth ers around him asked him about the par a bles. 11 He told them, “The se cret of the king dom of God has been giv en to you. But to those on the out side ev erything is said in par a bles 12 so that,

“ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ a ”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you un der stand this par a ble? How then will you un der stand any par a ble? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some peo ple are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Sa tan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Oth ers, like seed sown on rocky plac es, hear the word and at once re ceive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trou ble or per se cu tion comes because of the word, they quick ly fall away. 18 Still oth ers, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the wor ries of this life, the de ceit ful ness of wealth and the de sires for oth er things come in and choke the word, mak ing it un fruit ful. 20 Oth ers, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, ac cept it, and pro duce a crop — some thir ty, some six ty, some a hun dred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand21 He said to them, “Do you bring in

a lamp to put it un der a bowl or a bed? In stead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For what ev er is hid den is meant to be dis closed, and what ev er is con cealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If any one has ears to hear, let them hear.”

24 “Con sid er care ful ly what you hear,” he con tin ued. “With the mea sure you use, it will be mea sured to you — and

24 If a king dom is di vid ed against it self, that king dom can not stand. 25 If a house is di vid ed against it self, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Sa tan op pos es himself and is di vid ed, he can not stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can en ter a strong man’s house with out first ty ing him up. Then he can plun der the strong man’s house. 28 Tru ly I tell you, peo ple can be for giv en all their sins and every slan der they ut ter, 29 but who ev er blasphemes against the Holy Spir it will nev er be for giv en; they are guilty of an eter nal sin.”

30 He said this be cause they were saying, “He has an im pure spir it.”

31 Then Jesus’ moth er and broth ers arrived. Stand ing out side, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sit ting around him, and they told him, “Your moth er and broth ers are out side look ing for you.”

33 “Who are my moth er and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seat ed in a cir cle around him and said, “Here are my moth er and my broth ers! 35 Who ev er does God’s will is my broth er and sis ter and moth er.”

The Parable of the Sower

4 Again Jesus be gan to teach by the lake. The crowd that gath ered around

him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the peo ple were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by par a bles, and in his teach ing said: 3 “Lis ten! A farm er went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scat ter ing the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky plac es, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quick ly, be cause the soil was shal low. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they with ered be cause they had no root. 7 Oth er seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still oth er seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and pro duced a

a 12 Isaiah 6:9,10


1232 Mark 4

40 He said to his dis ci ples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were ter ri fied and asked each oth er, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Ger a senes. a 2 When Jesus

got out of the boat, a man with an im pure spir it came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had of ten been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to sub due him.

even more. 25 Who ever has will be giv en more; who ever does not have, even what they have will be tak en from them.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scat ters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, wheth er he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by it self the soil pro duc es grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full ker nel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sick le to it, be cause the har vest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the king dom of God is like, or what par able shall we use to de scribe it? 31 It is like a mus tard seed, which is the small est of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when plant ed, it grows and be comes the larg est of all garden plants, with such big branch es that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many sim i lar par a bles Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could un der stand. 34 He did not say anything to them with out us ing a par a ble. But when he was alone with his own disci ples, he ex plained ev ery thing.

Jesus Calms the Storm35 That day when eve ning came, he said

to his dis ci ples, “Let us go over to the oth er side.” 36 Leav ing the crowd be hind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also oth er boats with him. 37 A fu ri ous squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was near ly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleep ing on a cush ion. The dis ciples woke him and said to him, “Teach er, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, re buked the wind and said to the waves, “Qui et! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was com plete ly calm.

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Do your friends know you’re a Chris tian? Or

hasn’t the subject ever come up? Some teens (and adults too) hesitate to stand up for their faith. But as a Chris tian you really are different. When you try to hide who you are, it just isn’t right. When people in Bible times lit a lamp, they didn’t hide it. They put it on a stand so everyone could see. Jesus didn’t come into your life to be hidden. He came into your life so you could be his light, so you could hold him up for others to see the way to eternal life.

{Mark 4:21 – 23}

a 1 Some manuscripts Gadarenes; other manuscripts Gergesenes


Mark 5 1233

by boat to the oth er side of the lake, a large crowd gath ered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the syn agogue lead ers, named Ja i rus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He plead ed ear nest ly with him, “My little daugh ter is dy ing. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd fol lowed and pressed around him. 25 And a wom an was there who had been sub ject to bleed ing for twelve years. 26 She had suf fered a great deal un der the care of many doc tors and had spent all she had, yet in stead of getting bet ter she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up be hind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 be cause she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Im me diate ly her bleed ing stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suf fer ing.

30 At once Jesus re al ized that pow er had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the peo ple crowd ing against you,” his dis ci ples an swered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept look ing around to see who had done it. 33 Then the wom an, know ing what had hap pened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trem bling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daugh ter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suf fer ing.”

35 While Jesus was still speak ing, some peo ple came from the house of Ja i rus, the syn a gogue lead er. “Your daugh ter is dead,” they said. “Why both er the teach er any more?”

36 Over hear ing b what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just be lieve.”

37 He did not let any one fol low him except Pe ter, James and John the broth er of James. 38 When they came to the home of the syn a gogue lead er, Jesus saw a commo tion, with peo ple cry ing and wail ing

5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut him self with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a dis tance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shout ed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t tor ture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you im pure spir it!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Le gion,” he re plied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

11 A large herd of pigs was feed ing on the near by hill side. 12 The de mons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; al low us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permis sion, and the im pure spir its came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thou sand in num ber, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

14 Those tend ing the pigs ran off and report ed this in the town and coun try side, and the peo ple went out to see what had hap pened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the le gion of de mons, sit ting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the peo ple what had hap pened to the de monpos sessed man — and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the peo ple be gan to plead with Jesus to leave their re gion.

18 As Jesus was get ting into the boat, the man who had been de monpos sessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus 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 mer cy on you.” 20 So the man went away and be gan to tell in the De cap o lis a how much Jesus had done for him. And all the peo ple were amazed.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

21 When Jesus had again crossed over

a 20 That is, the Ten Cities b 36 Or Ignoring


1234 Mark 5

there un til you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not wel come you or lis ten to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a tes ti mo ny against them.”

12 They went out and preached that peo ple should re pent. 13 They drove out many de mons and anoint ed many sick peo ple with oil and healed them.

John the Baptist Beheaded14 King Her od heard about this, for

Jesus’ name had be come well known. Some were say ing, b “John the Bap tist has been raised from the dead, and that is why mi rac u lous pow ers are at work in him.”

15 Oth ers said, “He is Eli jah.”And still oth ers claimed, “He is a proph

et, like one of the proph ets of long ago.”16 But when Her od heard this, he said,

“John, whom I be head ed, has been raised from the dead!”

17 For Her od him self had giv en or ders to have John ar rest ed, and he had him bound and put in pris on. He did this because of He ro di as, his broth er Phil ip’s wife, whom he had mar ried. 18 For John had been say ing to Her od, “It is not lawful for you to have your broth er’s wife.” 19 So He ro di as nursed a grudge against John and want ed to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 be cause Her od feared John and pro tect ed him, know ing him to be a righ teous and holy man. When Her od heard John, he was great ly puz zled c; yet he liked to lis ten to him.

21 Fi nal ly the op por tune time came. On his birth day Her od gave a ban quet for his high of fi cials and mil i tary com mand ers and the lead ing men of Gal i lee. 22 When the daugh ter of d He ro di as came in and danced, she pleased Her od and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for any thing you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he prom ised her with an oath, “What ev er you ask I will give you, up to half my king dom.”

24 She went out and said to her moth er, “What shall I ask for?”

loud ly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this com mo tion and wail ing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

Af ter he put them all out, he took the child’s fa ther and moth er and the disci ples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Tal i tha koum!” (which means “Lit tle girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Im me di ate ly the girl stood up and be gan to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were com plete ly as ton ished. 43 He gave strict or ders not to let any one know about this, and told them to give her some thing to eat.

A Prophet Without Honor

6 Jesus left there and went to his home town, ac com pa nied by his dis ci

ples. 2 When the Sab bath came, he be gan to teach in the syn a gogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wis dom that has been giv en him? What are these re markable mir a cles he is per form ing? 3 Isn’t this the car pen ter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the broth er of James, Jo seph, a Ju das and Si mon? Aren’t his sis ters here with us?” And they took of fense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A proph et is not with out hon or ex cept in his own town, among his rel a tives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any mir a cles there, ex cept lay his hands on a few sick peo ple and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus Sends Out the TwelveThen Jesus went around teach ing from

vil lage to vil lage. 7 Call ing the Twelve to him, he be gan to send them out two by two and gave them au thor i ty over im pure spir its.

8 These were his in struc tions: “Take noth ing for the jour ney ex cept a staff — no bread, no bag, no mon ey in your belts. 9 Wear san dals but not an ex tra shir t. 10 When ev er you en ter a house, stay

a 3 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph b 14 Some early manuscripts He was saying c 20 Some early manuscripts he did many things d 22 Some early manuscripts When his daughter


Mark 6 1235

brought back his head on a plat ter. He pre sent ed it to the girl, and she gave it to her moth er. 29 On hear ing of this, John’s dis ci ples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand30 The apos tles gath ered around Jesus

and re port ed to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, be cause so many peo ple were com ing and go ing that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by your selves to a qui et place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by them selves in a boat to a sol i tary place. 33 But many who saw them leav ing rec og nized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compas sion on them, be cause they were like sheep with out a shep herd. So he be gan teach ing them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his dis ci ples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s al ready very late. 36 Send the peo ple away so that they can go to the sur round ing coun tryside and vil lag es and buy them selves some thing to eat.”

37 But he an swered, “You give them some thing to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wag es a ! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five — and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus di rect ed them to have all the peo ple sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hun dreds and fif ties. 41 Tak ing the five loaves and the two fish and look ing up to heav en, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his dis ciples to dis trib ute to the peo ple. He also di vid ed the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were sat is fied, 43 and the dis ci ples picked up twelve bas ket fuls

“The head of John the Bap tist,” she an swered.

25 At once the girl hur ried in to the king with the re quest: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Bap tist on a plat ter.”

26 The king was great ly dis tressed, but be cause of his oaths and his din ner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he im me di ate ly sent an ex e cu tion er with or ders to bring John’s head. The man went, be head ed John in the pris on, 28 and

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Have you ever tried to rewrite the end of a Bible

story? Try this one. Herodias’s daughter wanted John the Baptist beheaded. If the king hadn’t been so worried about what his guests would think, what could he have said? Perhaps, “I said half my kingdom. I didn’t say I’d kill someone for you.” Or, “That’s against God’s law, my dear.” Or, “What a terrible thing to ask. Guards, get her out of my sight!” There’s always something you can do besides give in to peer pressure. Remember the last time you gave in? Try rewriting the end of that story. Now the next time you’re under pressure, try out one of those different endings.

{Mark 6:14 – 29}

a 37 Greek take two hundred denarii


1236 Mark 6

they wash. And they ob serve many oth er tra di tions, such as the wash ing of cups, pitch ers and ket tles. a )

5 So the Phar i sees and teach ers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your dis ciples live ac cord ing to the tra di tion of the el ders in stead of eat ing their food with de filed hands?”

6 He re plied, “Isa iah was right when he proph e sied about you hyp o crites; 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.’ b

8 You have let go of the com mands of God and are hold ing on to hu man tra di tions.”

9 And he con tin ued, “You have a fine way of set ting aside the com mands of God in or der to ob serve c your own tradi tions! 10 For Mo ses said, ‘Hon or your fa ther and moth er,’ d and, ‘Any one who curs es their fa ther or moth er is to be put to death.’ e 11 But you say that if any one de clares that what might have been used to help their fa ther or moth er is Cor ban (that is, de vot ed to God) — 12 then you no lon ger let them do any thing for their fa ther or moth er. 13 Thus you nul li fy the word of God by your tra di tion that you have hand ed down. And you do many things like that.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Lis ten to me, ev ery one, and un der stand this. 15 Noth ing out side a person can de file them by go ing into them. Rath er, it is what comes out of a per son that de files them.” [16] f

17 Af ter he had left the crowd and entered the house, his dis ci ples asked him about this par a ble. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that noth ing that en ters a per son from the out side can de file them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stom ach, and then out of the body.” (In say ing this, Jesus de clared all foods clean.)

of bro ken piec es of bread and fish. 44 The num ber of the men who had eat en was five thou sand.

Jesus Walks on the Water45 Im me di ate ly Jesus made his dis ci

ples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Beth sa i da, while he dis missed the crowd. 46 Af ter leav ing them, he went up on a moun tain side to pray.

47 Later that night, the boat was in the mid dle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the dis ci ples strain ing at the oars, be cause the wind was against them. Short ly be fore dawn he went out to them, walk ing on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walk ing on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 be cause they all saw him and were ter ri fied.

Im me di ate ly he spoke to them and said, “Take cour age! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were com plete ly amazed, 52 for they had not under stood about the loaves; their hearts were hard ened.

53 When they had crossed over, they land ed at Gen nes a ret and an chored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, peo ple rec og nized Jesus. 55 They ran through out that whole re gion and car ried the sick on mats to wher ev er they heard he was. 56 And wher ev er he went — into villag es, towns or coun try side — they placed the sick in the mar ket plac es. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles

7 The Phar i sees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from

Je ru sa lem gath ered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his dis ci ples eat ing food with hands that were de filed, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Phar i sees and all the Jews do not eat un less they give their hands a cer e mo ni al wash ing, hold ing to the tra dition of the el ders. 4 When they come from the mar ket place they do not eat un less

a 4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches b 6,7 Isaiah 29:13 c 9 Some manuscripts set up d 10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16 e 10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9 f 16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.


Mark 8 1237

35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loos ened and he be gan to speak plain ly.

36 Jesus com mand ed them not to tell any one. But the more he did so, the more they kept talk ing about it. 37 Peo ple were over whelmed with amaze ment. “He has done ev ery thing well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8 Dur ing those days an oth er large crowd gath ered. Since they had noth

ing to eat, Jesus called his dis ci ples to him and said, 2 “I have com pas sion for these peo ple; they have al ready been with me three days and have noth ing to eat. 3 If I send them home hun gry, they will col lapse on the way, be cause some of them have come a long dis tance.”

4 His dis ci ples an swered, “But where in this re mote place can any one get enough bread to feed them?”

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

“Sev en,” they re plied.6 He told the crowd to sit down on the

ground. When he had tak en the sev en loaves and giv en thanks, he broke them and gave them to his dis ci ples to distrib ute to the peo ple, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the dis ci ples to dis trib ute them. 8 The people ate and were sat is fied. Af ter ward the dis ci ples picked up sev en bas ket fuls of bro ken piec es that were left over. 9 About four thou sand were pres ent. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his dis ci ples and went to the re gion of Dal ma nu tha.

11 The Phar i sees came and be gan to ques tion Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heav en. 12 He sighed deep ly and said, “Why does this gen er ation ask for a sign? Tru ly I tell you, no sign will be giv en to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the oth er side.

20 He went on: “What comes out of a per son is what de files them. 21 For it is from with in, out of a per son’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sex u al im mo ral i ty, theft, mur der, 22 adul tery, greed, mal ice, de ceit, lewd ness, envy, slan der, ar rogance and fol ly. 23 All these evils come from in side and de file a per son.”

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vi cin i ty of Tyre. a He en tered a house and did not want any one to know it; yet he could not keep his pres ence se cret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a wom an whose lit tle daugh ter was possessed by an im pure spir it came and fell at his feet. 26 The wom an was a Greek, born in Syr i an Phoe nic ia. She begged Jesus to drive the de mon out of her daugh ter.

27 “First let the chil dren eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the chil dren’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she re plied, “even the dogs un der the ta ble eat the chil dren’s crumbs.”

29 Then he told her, “For such a re ply, you may go; the de mon has left your daugh ter.”

30 She went home and found her child ly ing on the bed, and the de mon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

31 Then Jesus left the vi cin i ty of Tyre and went through Si don, down to the Sea of Gal i lee and into the re gion of the Decap o lis. b 32 There some peo ple brought to him a man who was deaf and could hard ly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 Af ter he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fin gers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heav en and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephpha tha!” (which means “Be opened!”).

a 24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon b 31 That is, the Ten Cities


Mark 8 1238

20 “And when I broke the sev en loaves for the four thou sand, how many bas ketfuls of piec es did you pick up?”

They an swered, “Sev en.”21 He said to them, “Do you still not un

der stand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

22 They came to Beth sa i da, and some peo ple brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out side the vil lage. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see any thing?”

24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walk ing around.”

25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened,

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

14 The dis ci ples had for got ten to bring bread, ex cept for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be care ful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Phar i sees and that of Her od.”

16 They dis cussed this with one an other and said, “It is be cause we have no bread.”

17 Aware of their dis cus sion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talk ing about hav ing no bread? Do you still not see or un der stand? Are your hearts hard ened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remem ber? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thou sand, how many bas ketfuls of piec es did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they re plied.

to the pointour cross is different

Jesus said anyone who wants to follow him must “deny themselves and take up their cross” (Mark 8:34). The cross meant suffering anddeathforJesus.Doesthatmeanyou’llhavetosuffertoo?

The cross is more than a place where Jesus died. It is a symbol of our salvation and a symbol of God’s will. The cross was God’s will for Jesus. But your cross, God’s will for your life, is different. What is Jesus telling you?

•Denyyourself.ChoosewhatGodwants,notwhatyouwant.

•Takeupyourcross.DoGod’swilleachday.

•KeeponfollowingJesus.

Following Jesus will make a difference. The old you will be left behind, and you will become a new and beautiful person in Jesus.


Mark 9 1239

9 And he said to them, “Tru ly I tell you, some who are stand ing here will not

taste death be fore they see that the kingdom of God has come with pow er.”

The Transfiguration2 Af ter six days Jesus took Pe ter, James

and John with him and led them up a high moun tain, where they were all alone. There he was trans fig ured be fore them. 3 His clothes be came daz zling white, whiter than any one in the world could bleach them. 4 And there ap peared be fore them Eli jah and Mo ses, who were talk ing with Jesus.

5 Pe ter said to Jesus, “Rab bi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shel ters — one for you, one for Mo ses and one for Eli jah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so fright ened.)

7 Then a cloud ap peared and cov ered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Lis ten to him!”

8 Sud den ly, when they looked around, they no lon ger saw any one with them except Jesus.

9 As they were com ing down the mountain, Jesus gave them or ders not to tell any one what they had seen un til the Son of Man had ris en from the dead. 10 They kept the mat ter to them selves, dis cussing what “ris ing from the dead” meant.

11 And they asked him, “Why do the teach ers of the law say that Eli jah must come first?”

12 Jesus re plied, “To be sure, Eli jah does come first, and re stores all things. Why then is it writ ten that the Son of Man must suf fer much and be re ject ed? 13 But I tell you, Eli jah has come, and they have done to him ev ery thing they wished, just as it is writ ten about him.”

Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit

14 When they came to the oth er dis ciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teach ers of the law ar gu ing with them. 15 As soon as all the peo ple saw Jesus, they were over whelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

his sight was re stored, and he saw ev erything clear ly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into a the vil lage.”

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

27 Jesus and his dis ci ples went on to the vil lag es around Caes a rea Phi lip pi. On the way he asked them, “Who do peo ple say I am?”

28 They re plied, “Some say John the Bap tist; oth ers say Eli jah; and still others, one of the proph ets.”

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Pe ter an swered, “You are the Mes si ah.”30 Jesus warned them not to tell any one

about him.

Jesus Predicts His Death31 He then be gan to teach them that

the Son of Man must suf fer many things and be re ject ed by the el ders, the chief priests and the teach ers of the law, and that he must be killed and af ter three days rise again. 32 He spoke plain ly about this, and Pe ter took him aside and be gan to re buke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his dis ci ples, he re buked Pe ter. “Get be hind me, Sa tan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the con cerns of God, but mere ly hu man con cerns.”

The Way of the Cross34 Then he called the crowd to him

along with his dis ci ples and said: “Whoev er wants to be my dis ci ple must deny them selves and take up their cross and fol low me. 35 For who ev er wants to save their life b will lose it, but who ev er los es their life for me and for the gos pel will save it. 36 What good is it for some one to gain the whole world, yet for feit their soul? 37 Or what can any one give in exchange for their soul? 38 If any one is ashamed of me and my words in this adul ter ous and sin ful gen er a tion, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Fa ther’s glo ry with the holy an gels.”

a 26 Some manuscripts go and tell anyone in b 35 The Greek word means either life or soul ; also in verses 36 and 37.


Mark 9 1240

he was teach ing his dis ci ples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is go ing to be deliv ered in to the hands of men. They will kill him, and af ter three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not un der stand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

33 They came to Ca per na um. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you ar gu ing about on the road?” 34 But they kept qui et be cause on the way they had ar gued about who was the great est.

35 Sit ting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Any one who wants to be first

16 “What are you ar gu ing with them about?” he asked.

17 A man in the crowd an swered, “Teach er, I brought you my son, who is pos sessed by a spir it that has robbed him of speech. 18 When ev er it seiz es him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnash es his teeth and becomes rig id. I asked your dis ci ples to drive out the spir it, but they could not.”

19 “You un be liev ing gen er a tion,” Jesus re plied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

20 So they brought him. When the spir it saw Jesus, it im me di ate ly threw the boy into a con vul sion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foam ing at the mouth.

21 Jesus asked the boy’s fa ther, “How long has he been like this?”

“From child hood,” he an swered. 22 “It has of ten thrown him into fire or wa ter to kill him. But if you can do any thing, take pity on us and help us.”

23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Ev erything is pos si ble for one who be lieves.”

24 Im me di ate ly the boy’s fa ther exclaimed, “I do be lieve; help me over come my un be lief !”

25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was run ning to the scene, he re buked the impure spir it. “You deaf and mute spir it,” he said, “I com mand you, come out of him and nev er en ter him again.”

26 The spir it shrieked, con vulsed him vi o lent ly and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lift ed him to his feet, and he stood up.

28 Af ter Jesus had gone in doors, his disci ples asked him pri vate ly, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

29 He re plied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. a ”

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

30 They left that place and passed through Gal i lee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 be cause

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Some teens feel uncomfortable with kids from other

churches or denominations. They’re uncertain about how big a difference their differences make. Even Christ’s disciples were uncomfortable when they saw a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name. He wasn’t one of them. Jesus corrected them and said, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” Chris tians don’t agree on every belief. But all who trust Jesus as Savior become members of God’s family. If you refuse to emphasize differences and instead emphasize commitment to Christ, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable with Christian teens from other groups.

{Mark 9:38 – 41}

a 29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting


Mark 10 1241

Divorce

10 Jesus then left that place and went into the re gion of Ju dea and

across the Jor dan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his cus tom, he taught them.

2 Some Phar i sees came and test ed him by ask ing, “Is it law ful for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 “What did Mo ses com mand you?” he re plied.

4 They said, “Mo ses per mit ted a man to write a cer tif i cate of di vorce and send her away.”

5 “It was be cause your hearts were hard that Mo ses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the be gin ning of cre a tion God ‘made them male and fe male.’ c 7 ‘For this rea son a man will leave his fa ther and moth er and be unit ed to his wife, d 8 and the two will be come one flesh.’ e So they are no lon ger two, but one flesh. 9 There fore what God has joined to geth er, let no one sep a rate.”

10 When they were in the house again, the dis ci ples asked Jesus about this. 11 He an swered, “Any one who di vorc es his wife and mar ries an oth er wom an commits adul tery against her. 12 And if she divorc es her hus band and mar ries an oth er man, she com mits adul tery.”

The Little Children and Jesus13 Peo ple were bring ing lit tle chil dren to

Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the dis ci ples re buked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was in dig nant. He said to them, “Let the lit tle chil dren come to me, and do not hin der them, for the kingdom of God be longs to such as these. 15 Tru ly I tell you, any one who will not re ceive the king dom of God like a lit tle child will nev er en ter it.” 16 And he took the chil dren in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

17 As Jesus start ed on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees be fore

must be the very last, and the ser vant of all.”

36 He took a lit tle child whom he placed among them. Tak ing the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Who ev er wel comes one of these lit tle chil dren in my name wel comes me; and who ev er wel comes me does not wel come me but the one who sent me.”

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

38 “Teach er,” said John, “we saw someone driv ing out de mons in your name and we told him to stop, be cause he was not one of us.”

39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a mir a cle in my name can in the next mo ment say any thing bad about me, 40 for who ev er is not against us is for us. 41 Tru ly I tell you, any one who gives you a cup of wa ter in my name because you be long to the Mes si ah will certain ly not lose their re ward.

Causing to Stumble42 “If any one caus es one of these lit

tle ones — those who be lieve in me — to stum ble, it would be bet ter for them if a large mill stone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand caus es you to stum ble, cut it off. It is bet ter for you to en ter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire nev er goes out. [44] a 45 And if your foot caus es you to stum ble, cut it off. It is bet ter for you to en ter life crip pled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] a 47 And if your eye caus es you to stum ble, pluck it out. It is bet ter for you to en ter the king dom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where

“ ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ b

49 Ev ery one will be salt ed with fire.50 “Salt is good, but if it los es its salt

i ness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among your selves, and be at peace with each oth er.”

a 44,46 Some manuscripts include here the words of verse 48. b 48 Isaiah 66:24 c 6 Gen. 1:27 d 7 Some early manuscripts do not have and be united to his wife. e 8 Gen. 2:24


Mark 10 1242

the Twelve aside and told them what was go ing to hap pen to him. 33 “We are go ing up to Je ru sa lem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be de liv ered over to the chief priests and the teach ers of the law. They will con demn him to death and will hand him over to the Gen tiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days lat er he will rise.”

The Request of James and John35 Then James and John, the sons of

Zeb e dee, came to him. “Teach er,” they

him. “Good teach er,” he asked, “what must I do to in her it eter nal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus an swered. “No one is good — ex cept God alone. 19 You know the com mand ments: ‘You shall not mur der, you shall not commit adul tery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false tes ti mo ny, you shall not defraud, hon or your fa ther and moth er.’ a ”

20 “Teach er,” he de clared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell ev ery thing you have and give to the poor, and you will have trea sure in heav en. Then come, fol low me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, be cause he had great wealth.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his dis ci ples, “How hard it is for the rich to en ter the king dom of God!”

24 The dis ci ples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Chil dren, how hard it is b to en ter the king dom of God! 25 It is eas i er for a cam el to go through the eye of a nee dle than for some one who is rich to en ter the king dom of God.”

26 The dis ci ples were even more amazed, and said to each oth er, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is im pos si ble, but not with God; all things are pos si ble with God.”

28 Then Pe ter spoke up, “We have left ev ery thing to fol low you!”

29 “Tru ly I tell you,” Jesus re plied, “no one who has left home or broth ers or sis ters or moth er or fa ther or chil dren or fields for me and the gos pel 30 will fail to re ceive a hun dred times as much in this pres ent age: homes, broth ers, sis ters, moth ers, chil dren and fields — along with per se cu tions — and in the age to come eter nal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

32 They were on their way up to Je ru salem, with Jesus lead ing the way, and the dis ci ples were as ton ished, while those who fol lowed were afraid. Again he took

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Do you ever envy that rich girl at your school? The

one whose dad hired a live band and Hummer limo for her birthday party? Do you feel cheated? In Bible times most people thought wealth was a sign of God’s favor. So Jesus shocked his disciples when he said that it’s hard for a rich person to “enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23). What Jesus meant is that a rich person is likely to depend on possessions instead of on God. And a rich person is likely to value possessions more than pleasing God. It’s not wrong to be rich. But this would be an appropriate label on all your possessions: “May be hazardous to your [spiritual] health.”

{Mark 10:17 – 31}

a 19 Exodus 20:1216; Deut. 5:1620 b 24 Some manuscripts is for those who trust in riches


Mark 11 1243

crowd, were leav ing the city, a blind man, Bar ti mae us (which means “son of Ti maeus”), was sit ting by the road side beg ging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Naz a reth, he be gan to shout, “Jesus, Son of Da vid, have mer cy on me!”

48 Many re buked him and told him to be qui et, but he shout ed all the more, “Son of Da vid, have mer cy on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”So they called to the blind man, “Cheer

up! On your feet! He’s call ing you.” 50 Throw ing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rab bi, I want to see.”

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Im me di ate ly he re ceived his sight and fol lowed Jesus along the road.

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

11 As they ap proached Je ru sa lem and came to Beth pha ge and Beth a ny at

the Mount of Ol ives, Jesus sent two of his dis ci ples, 2 say ing to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you en ter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever rid den. Un tie it and bring it here. 3 If any one asks you, ‘Why are you do ing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here short ly.’ ”

4 They went and found a colt out side

said, “we want you to do for us what ev er we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They re plied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the oth er at your left in your glo ry.”

38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be bap tized with the bap tism I am bap tized with?”

39 “We can,” they an swered.Jesus said to them, “You will drink the

cup I drink and be bap tized with the baptism I am bap tized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These plac es be long to those for whom they have been pre pared.”

41 When the ten heard about this, they be came in dig nant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them to geth er and said, “You know that those who are re gard ed as rul ers of the Gen tiles lord it over them, and their high of fi cials ex er cise au thor ity over them. 43 Not so with you. In stead, who ev er wants to be come great among you must be your ser vant, 44 and who ever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ran som for many.”

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

46 Then they came to Jer i cho. As Jesus and his dis ci ples, to geth er with a large

panoramaWho?This book shows what Jesus was like — a man of action, a man with authority. He wouldn’t rest until he finished what he came here to do.

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At a young people’s retreat one of my friends went forward to accept Jesus as her Savior. Now she says it’s all a bunch of nonsense, that it’s what people who want to feel good do to feel good. How can she be saved when she

acts like this? >> Mackenzie

Dear Mackenzie,

On the first ever Palm Sunday, the crowds were praising Christ as he entered Jerusalem (Mark 11). Yet just a few days later, some of those same people shouted angrily to crucify him. Obviously, their excitement for Jesus showed no real commitment to him.

Faith isn’t just going forward at a revival meeting. It’s committing yourself to Jesus and trusting him enough to follow him. In Matthew 13 Christ told a story about a farmer sowing seeds. The birds ate the seed that fell on the path. Seed that fell on rocky places sprang up quickly but soon withered. Other seed fell among thorns that choked the young plants out. But some seed fell on good soil where it flourished and grew.

Your friend sounds like the rocky soil. The seed (the news of Christ) did not take root in her. It withered and died. It had no staying power. Perhaps the seed will lie dormant and one day take real root and grow. Perhaps not, but the choice is hers. Keep praying for her.

Jordan


Mark 11 1245

18 The chief priests and the teach ers of the law heard this and be gan look ing for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teach ing.

19 When eve ning came, Jesus and his dis ci ples e went out of the city.

20 In the morn ing, as they went along, they saw the fig tree with ered from the roots. 21 Pe ter re mem bered and said to Jesus, “Rab bi, look! The fig tree you cursed has with ered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus an swered. 23 “Tru ly f I tell you, if any one says to this moun tain, ‘Go, throw your self into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but be lieves that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 There fore I tell you, what ev er you ask for in prayer, be lieve that you have re ceived it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold any thing against any one, for give them, so that your Fa ther in heaven may for give you your sins.” [26] g

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

27 They ar rived again in Je ru sa lem, and while Jesus was walk ing in the tem ple courts, the chief priests, the teach ers of the law and the el ders came to him. 28 “By what au thor i ty are you do ing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you au thor i ty to do this?”

29 Jesus re plied, “I will ask you one ques tion. An swer me, and I will tell you by what au thor i ty I am do ing these things. 30 John’s bap tism — was it from heav en, or of hu man or i gin? Tell me!”

31 They dis cussed it among them selves and said, “If we say, ‘From heav en,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you be lieve him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of hu man or i gin’ . . .” (They feared the peo ple, for ev ery one held that John real ly was a proph et.)

33 So they an swered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Nei ther will I tell you by what au thor i ty I am do ing these things.”

in the street, tied at a door way. As they un tied it, 5 some peo ple stand ing there asked, “What are you do ing, un ty ing that colt?” 6 They an swered as Jesus had told them to, and the peo ple let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many peo ple spread their cloaks on the road, while oth ers spread branch es they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who fol lowed shout ed,

“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!”

11 Jesus en tered Je ru sa lem and went into the tem ple courts. He looked around at ev ery thing, but since it was al ready late, he went out to Beth a ny with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Courts

12 The next day as they were leav ing Beth a ny, Jesus was hun gry. 13 See ing in the dis tance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found noth ing but leaves, be cause it was not the sea son for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disci ples heard him say it.

15 On reach ing Je ru sa lem, Jesus entered the tem ple courts and be gan driving out those who were buy ing and selling there. He over turned the ta bles of the mon ey chang ers and the bench es of those sell ing doves, 16 and would not allow any one to car ry mer chan dise through the tem ple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not writ ten: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all na tions’ c ? But you have made it ‘a den of rob bers.’ d ”

a 9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 10 b 9 Psalm 118:25,26 c 17 Isaiah 56:7 d 17 Jer. 7:11 e 19 Some early manuscripts came, Jesus f 22,23 Some early manuscripts “If you have faith in God,” Jesus answered, 23“truly g 26 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Matt. 6:15.


Mark 12 1246

they are; but you teach the way of God in ac cor dance with the truth. Is it right to pay the im pe ri al tax b to Cae sar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hy poc ri sy. “Why are you try ing to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a de nar i us and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose im age is this? And whose in scrip tion?”

“Cae sar’s,” they re plied.17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back

to Cae sar what is Cae sar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection18 Then the Sad du cees, who say there

is no res ur rec tion, came to him with a ques tion. 19 “Teach er,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s broth er dies and leaves a wife but no chil dren, the man must mar ry the wid ow and raise up off spring for his broth er. 20 Now there were sev en broth ers. The first one married and died with out leav ing any chil dren. 21 The sec ond one mar ried the wid ow, but he also died, leav ing no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the sev en left any chil dren. Last of all, the wom an died too. 23 At the res ur rec tion c whose wife will she be, since the sev en were mar ried to her?”

24 Jesus re plied, “Are you not in er ror be cause you do not know the Scrip tures or the pow er of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will nei ther mar ry nor be giv en in mar riage; they will be like the an gels in heav en. 26 Now about the dead ris ing — have you not read in the Book of Mo ses, in the ac count of the burn ing bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Ja cob’ d ? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the liv ing. You are bad ly mis tak en!”

The Greatest Commandment28 One of the teach ers of the law came

and heard them de bat ing. No tic ing that Jesus had giv en them a good an swer, he

The Parable of the Tenants

12 Jesus then be gan to speak to them in par a bles: “A man plant

ed a vine yard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a watch tow er. Then he rent ed the vine yard to some farm ers and moved to an oth er place. 2 At har vest time he sent a servant to the ten ants to col lect from them some of the fruit of the vine yard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away emp tyhand ed. 4 Then he sent anoth er ser vant to them; they struck this man on the head and treat ed him shameful ly. 5 He sent still an oth er, and that one they killed. He sent many oth ers; some of them they beat, oth ers they killed.

6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, say ing, ‘They will re spect my son.’

7 “But the ten ants said to one an other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the in her i tance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vine yard.

9 “What then will the own er of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those ten ants and give the vine yard to oth ers. 10 Haven’t you read this pas sage of Scripture:

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ a ?”

12 Then the chief priests, the teach ers of the law and the el ders looked for a way to ar rest him be cause they knew he had spo ken the par a ble against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar

13 Lat er they sent some of the Phar isees and He ro di ans to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teach er, we know that you are a man of in teg ri ty. You aren’t swayed by others, be cause you pay no at ten tion to who

a 11 Psalm 118:22,23 b 14 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens c 23 Some manuscripts resurrection, when people rise from the dead, d 26 Exodus 3:6


Mark 12 1247

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wise ly, he said to him, “You are not far from the king dom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more ques tions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?35 While Jesus was teach ing in the tem

ple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Mes si ah is the son of Da vid? 36 Da vid him self, speak ing by the Holy Spir it, de clared:

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

37 Da vid him self calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd lis tened to him with de light.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teach ers of the law. They like to walk around in flow ing robes and be greet ed with re spect in the mar ket plac es, 39 and have the most im por tant seats in the syn a gogues and the plac es of honor at ban quets. 40 They de vour wid ows’ hous es and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be pun ished most se vere ly.”

The Widow’s Offering41 Jesus sat down op po site the place

where the of fer ings were put and watched the crowd put ting their mon ey into the tem ple trea sury. Many rich peo ple threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor wid ow came and put in two very small cop per coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Call ing his dis ci ples to him, Jesus said, “Tru ly I tell you, this poor wid ow has put more into the trea sury than all the oth ers. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her pov er ty, put in ev erything — all she had to live on.”

asked him, “Of all the com mand ments, which is the most im por tant?”

29 “The most im por tant one,” an swered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Is ra el: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. a 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ b 31 The sec ond is this: ‘Love your neigh bor as your self.’ c There is no com mand ment great er than these.”

32 “Well said, teach er,” the man replied. “You are right in say ing that God is one and there is no oth er but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your un der stand ing and with all your strength, and to love your neigh bor as your self is more im por tant than all burnt of fer ings and sac ri fic es.”

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D id you ever try to list the things you do, or don’t

do, because you’re a Chris tian? How many things would be on the “do” side, and how many on the “don’t”? The rabbis in Jesus’ time listed 622 “do” and “don’t” commandments. Then one teacher of the law asked Jesus about “the most important” commandment. Jesus boiled all the rules down to just two: Love God completely, and love your neighbor as yourself. Make it your goal to love God and others. Your life will be one that pleases God.

{Mark 12:28 – 34}

a 29 Or The Lord our God is one Lord b 30 Deut. 6:4,5 c 31 Lev. 19:18 d 36 Psalm 110:1


Mark 13 1248

field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dread ful it will be in those days for pregnant wom en and nurs ing moth ers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in win ter, 19 be cause those will be days of dis tress un equaled from the be gin ning, when God cre at ed the world, un til now — and nev er to be equaled again.

20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would sur vive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has cho sen, he has short ened them. 21 At that time if any one says to you, ‘Look, here is the Mes si ah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not be lieve it. 22 For false mes si ahs and false proph ets will ap pear and per form signs and won ders to de ceive, if pos si ble, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you ev ery thing ahead of time.

24 “But in those days, fol low ing that distress,

“ ‘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

26 “At that time peo ple will see the Son of Man com ing in clouds with great pow er and glo ry. 27 And he will send his an gels and gath er his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heav ens.

28 “Now learn this les son from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get ten der and its leaves come out, you know that sum mer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things hap pen ing, you know that it b is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this gen er a tion will cer tain ly not pass away un til all these things have hap pened. 31 Heav en and earth will pass away, but my words will nev er pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown32 “But about that day or hour no one

knows, not even the an gels in heav en, nor the Son, but only the Fa ther. 33 Be on guard! Be alert d ! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

13 As Jesus was leav ing the tem ple, one of his dis ci ples said to him,

“Look, Teach er! What mas sive stones! What mag nif i cent build ings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” re plied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on an oth er; ev ery one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sit ting on the Mount of Ol ives op po site the tem ple, Pe ter, James, John and An drew asked him pri vate ly, 4 “Tell us, when will these things hap pen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be ful filled?”

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one de ceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claim ing, ‘I am he,’ and will de ceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and ru mors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must hap pen, but the end is still to come. 8 Na tion will rise against na tion, and kingdom against king dom. There will be earthquakes in var i ous plac es, and fam ines. These are the be gin ning of birth pains.

9 “You must be on your guard. You will be hand ed over to the lo cal coun cils and flogged in the syn a gogues. On ac count of me you will stand be fore gov er nors and kings as wit ness es to them. 10 And the gos pel must first be preached to all nations. 11 When ev er you are ar rest ed and brought to tri al, do not wor ry be fore hand about what to say. Just say what ev er is giv en you at the time, for it is not you speak ing, but the Holy Spir it.

12 “Broth er will be tray broth er to death, and a fa ther his child. Chil dren will re bel against their par ents and have them put to death. 13 Ev ery one will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

14 “When you see ‘the abom i na tion that caus es des o la tion’ a stand ing where it b does not be long — let the read er un derstand — then let those who are in Ju dea flee to the moun tains. 15 Let no one on the house top go down or en ter the house to take any thing out. 16 Let no one in the

a 14 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 b 14,29 Or he c 25 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 d 33 Some manuscripts alert and pray


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“he shall come”

the Bible says that Jesus will return to earth. what do you know about his coming? here are some things you can be sure about:

* Jesus will come in power and glory (Mark 13:26).

* Jesus will come back in person (acts 1:11).

* chris tians will rise from the dead (1 thes salo nians 4:13 – 18).

* Jesus will punish those who do not know god (2 thes salo nians 1:8 – 9).

no one knows just when Jesus will return. Some people think they’ll change the way they live next week or next year. But Jesus warned that he might return at any time! Jesus urges you to “Be alert!” (Mark 13:33). if you expect Jesus to return at any moment, you’ll be careful at all times to do the things that please him.

go to page 1583 for the next we Believe


1250 Mark 13

to sac ri fice the Pass over lamb, Jesus’ dis ci ples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make prep a ra tions for you to eat the Pass over?”

13 So he sent two of his dis ci ples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carry ing a jar of wa ter will meet you. Fol low him. 14 Say to the own er of the house he en ters, ‘The Teach er asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my dis ci ples?’ 15 He will show you a large room up stairs, fur nished and ready. Make prep a ra tions for us there.”

16 The dis ci ples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they pre pared the Pass over.

17 When eve ning came, Jesus ar rived with the Twelve. 18 While they were re clining at the ta ble eat ing, he said, “Tru ly I tell you, one of you will be tray me — one who is eat ing with me.”

19 They were sad dened, and one by one they said to him, “Sure ly you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he re plied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is writ ten about him. But woe to that man who be trays the Son of Man! It would be bet ter for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eat ing, Jesus took bread, and when he had giv en thanks, he broke it and gave it to his dis ci ples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had giv en thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 “This is my blood of the c cov enant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Tru ly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine un til that day when I drink it new in the king dom of God.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Ol ives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told

them, “for it is writ ten:

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

his ser vants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “There fore keep watch be cause you do not know when the own er of the house will come back — wheth er in the eve ning, or at mid night, or when the roost er crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes sud den ly, do not let him find you sleep ing. 37 What I say to you, I say to ev ery one: ‘Watch!’ ”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

14 Now the Pass over and the Fes tival of Un leav ened Bread were only

two days away, and the chief priests and the teach ers of the law were schem ing to ar rest Jesus se cret ly and kill him. 2 “But not dur ing the fes ti val,” they said, “or the peo ple may riot.”

3 While he was in Beth a ny, re clin ing at the ta ble in the home of Si mon the Leper, a wom an came with an al a bas ter jar of very ex pen sive per fume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the per fume on his head.

4 Some of those pres ent were say ing indig nant ly to one an oth er, “Why this waste of per fume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wag es a and the money giv en to the poor.” And they re buked her harsh ly.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you both er ing her? She has done a beau ti ful thing to me. 7 The poor you will al ways have with you, b and you can help them any time you want. But you will not al ways have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured per fume on my body be forehand to pre pare for my buri al. 9 Tru ly I tell you, wher ev er the gos pel is preached through out the world, what she has done will also be told, in mem o ry of her.”

10 Then Ju das Is car i ot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to be tray Jesus to them. 11 They were de light ed to hear this and prom ised to give him money. So he watched for an op por tu ni ty to hand him over.

The Last Supper12 On the first day of the Fes ti val of Un

leav ened Bread, when it was cus tom ary

a 5 Greek than three hundred denarii b 7 See Deut. 15:11. c 24 Some manuscripts the new d 27 Zech. 13:7


Mark 14 1251

44 Now the be tray er had ar ranged a sig nal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; ar rest him and lead him away un der guard.” 45 Go ing at once to Jesus, Ju das said, “Rab bi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and ar rest ed him. 47 Then one of those stand ing near drew his sword and struck the ser vant of the high priest, cut ting off his ear.

48 “Am I lead ing a re bel lion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to cap ture me? 49 Ev ery day I was with you, teach ing in the tem ple courts, and you did not ar rest me. But the Scrip tures must be ful filled.” 50 Then ev ery one de sert ed him and fled.

51 A young man, wear ing noth ing but a lin en gar ment, was fol low ing Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled na ked, leav ing his gar ment be hind.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin53 They took Jesus to the high priest,

and all the chief priests, the el ders and the teach ers of the law came to geth er. 54 Pe ter fol lowed him at a dis tance, right into the cour t yard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed him self at the fire.

55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhe drin were look ing for ev i dence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many tes ti fied false ly against him, but their state ments did not agree.

57 Then some stood up and gave this false tes ti mo ny against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will de stroy this tem ple made with hu man hands and in three days will build an oth er, not made with hands.’ ” 59 Yet even then their tes ti mo ny did not agree.

60 Then the high priest stood up be fore them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to an swer? What is this tes ti mo ny that these men are bring ing against you?” 61 But Jesus re mained si lent and gave no an swer.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Mes si ah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

28 But af ter I have ris en, I will go ahead of you into Gal i lee.”

29 Pe ter de clared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

30 “Tru ly I tell you,” Jesus an swered, “to day — yes, to night — be fore the rooster crows twice a you your self will dis own me three times.”

31 But Pe ter in sist ed em phat i cal ly, “Even if I have to die with you, I will nev er dis own you.” And all the oth ers said the same.

Gethsemane32 They went to a place called Geth sem

a ne, and Jesus said to his dis ci ples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Pe ter, James and John along with him, and he be gan to be deep ly dis tressed and trou bled. 34 “My soul is over whelmed with sor row to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

35 Go ing a lit tle far ther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if pos si ble the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, b Father,” he said, “ev ery thing is pos si ble for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

37 Then he re turned to his dis ci ples and found them sleep ing. “Si mon,” he said to Pe ter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temp tation. The spir it is will ing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleep ing, be cause their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

41 Re turn ing the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleep ing and rest ing? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is de liv ered into the hands of sin ners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my be tray er!”

Jesus Arrested43 Just as he was speak ing, Ju das, one

of the Twelve, ap peared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teach ers of the law, and the el ders.

a 30 Some early manuscripts do not have twice. b 36 Aramaic for father


1252 Mark 14

2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pi late.

“You have said so,” Jesus re plied.3 The chief priests ac cused him of

many things. 4 So again Pi late asked him, “Aren’t you go ing to an swer? See how many things they are ac cus ing you of.”

5 But Jesus still made no re ply, and Pilate was amazed.

6 Now it was the cus tom at the fes ti val to re lease a pris on er whom the peo ple request ed. 7 A man called Bar ab bas was in pris on with the in sur rec tion ists who had com mit ted mur der in the up ris ing. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pi late to do for them what he usu al ly did.

9 “Do you want me to re lease to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pi late, 10 knowing it was out of selfinterest that the chief priests had hand ed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pi late re lease Bar ab bas in stead.

12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pi late asked them.

13 “Cru ci fy him!” they shout ed.14 “Why? What crime has he com mit

ted?” asked Pi late.But they shout ed all the loud er, “Cru

ci fy him!”15 Want ing to sat is fy the crowd, Pi

late re leased Bar ab bas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and hand ed him over to be cru ci fied.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus16 The sol diers led Jesus away into

the pal ace (that is, the Prae to ri um) and called to geth er the whole com pa ny of soldiers. 17 They put a pur ple robe on him, then twist ed to geth er a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they be gan to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Fall ing on their knees, they paid hom age to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the pur ple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to cru ci fy him.

62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sit ting at the right hand of the Mighty One and com ing on the clouds of heav en.”

63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more wit ness es?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blas phe my. What do you think?”

They all con demned him as wor thy of death. 65 Then some be gan to spit at him; they blind fold ed him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Proph e sy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

Peter Disowns Jesus66 While Pe ter was be low in the court

yard, one of the ser vant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Pe ter warm ing him self, she looked close ly at him.

“You also were with that Naz a rene, Jesus,” she said.

68 But he de nied it. “I don’t know or under stand what you’re talk ing about,” he said, and went out into the en try way. a

69 When the ser vant girl saw him there, she said again to those stand ing around, “This fel low is one of them.” 70 Again he de nied it.

Af ter a lit tle while, those stand ing near said to Pe ter, “Sure ly you are one of them, for you are a Gal i le an.”

71 He be gan to call down curs es, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talk ing about.”

72 Im me di ate ly the roost er crowed the sec ond time. b Then Pe ter re mem bered the word Jesus had spo ken to him: “Before the roost er crows twice c you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Jesus Before Pilate

15 Very ear ly in the morn ing, the chief priests, with the el ders, the teach

ers of the law and the whole San he drin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and hand ed him over to Pilate.

a 68 Some early manuscripts entryway and the rooster crowed b 72 Some early manuscripts do not have the second time. c 72 Some early manuscripts do not have twice.


Mark 15 1253

25 It was nine in the morn ing when they cru ci fied him. 26 The writ ten no tice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

27 They cru ci fied two reb els with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] a 29 Those who passed by hurled in sults at him, shak ing their heads and say ing, “So! You who are go ing to de stroy the tem ple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save your self !” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teach ers of the law mocked him among them selves. “He saved oth ers,” they said, “but he can’t save him self ! 32 Let this Mes si ah, this king of Is ra el, come down now from the cross, that we may see and be lieve.” Those cru ci fied with him also heaped in sults on him.

The Death of Jesus33 At noon, dark ness came over the

whole land un til three in the af ter noon. 34 And at three in the af ter noon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sa bach tha ni? ” (which means “My God, my God, why have you for sak en me?”). b

35 When some of those stand ing near heard this, they said, “Lis ten, he’s calling Eli jah.”

36 Some one ran, filled a sponge with wine vin egar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Eli jah comes to take him down,” he said.

37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38 The cur tain of the tem ple was torn in two from top to bot tom. 39 And when the cen tu ri on, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, c he said, “Sure ly this man was the Son of God!”

40 Some wom en were watch ing from a dis tance. Among them were Mary Mag dalene, Mary the moth er of James the younger and of Jo seph, d and Sa lo me. 41 In Gali lee these wom en had fol lowed him and cared for his needs. Many oth er wom en who had come up with him to Je ru sa lem were also there.

The Crucifixion of Jesus21 A cer tain man from Cy re ne, Si mon, the

fa ther of Al ex an der and Ru fus, was passing by on his way in from the coun try, and they forced him to car ry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Gol gotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they of fered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they cru ci fied him. Di vid ing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

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M any who watched Jesus on the cross ridiculed

and insulted him. Probably none of them understood that Christ’s death was selfsacrifice. He was giving his life for them, and for you. Selfsacrifice is usually misunderstood. You give up good times to help take care of your little brothers and sisters. And the kids your age say you’re a loner and think you don’t like them. You get a job to help out because your dad can’t work. And some teachers get on you because you fall asleep in class. Don’t get discouraged. Yes, the sacrifices you make for others may be misunderstood. But you’re following a perfect example: Jesus.

{Mark 15:29 – 32}

a 28 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Luke 22:37. b 34 Psalm 22:1 c 39 Some manuscripts saw that he died with such a cry d 40 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph; also in verse 47


1254 Mark 15

ing ahead of you into Gal i lee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”

8 Trem bling and be wil dered, the wom en went out and fled from the tomb. They said noth ing to any one, be cause they were afraid. a

[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9 – 20.]

9 When Jesus rose ear ly on the first day of the week, he ap peared first to Mary Mag dalene, out of whom he had driv en sev en demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourn ing and weep ing. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not be lieve it.

12 Af ter ward Jesus ap peared in a dif fer ent form to two of them while they were walk ing in the coun try. 13 These re turned and re port ed it to the rest; but they did not be lieve them ei ther.

14 Lat er Jesus ap peared to the Elev en as they were eat ing; he re buked them for their lack of faith and their stub born re fus al to be lieve those who had seen him af ter he had ris en.

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gos pel to all cre a tion. 16 Whoev er be lieves and is bap tized will be saved, but who ev er does not be lieve will be con demned. 17 And these signs will ac com pa ny those who be lieve: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink dead ly poi son, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

19 Af ter the Lord Jesus had spo ken to them, he was tak en up into heav en and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the dis ci ples went out and preached ev ery where, and the Lord worked with them and con firmed his word by the signs that ac com pa nied it.

The Burial of Jesus42 It was Prep a ra tion Day (that is, the

day be fore the Sab bath). So as eve ning ap proached, 43 Jo seph of Ar i ma thea, a prom i nent mem ber of the Coun cil, who was him self wait ing for the king dom of God, went bold ly to Pi late and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pi late was sur prised to hear that he was al ready dead. Sum moning the cen tu ri on, he asked him if Jesus had al ready died. 45 When he learned from the cen tu ri on that it was so, he gave the body to Jo seph. 46 So Jo seph bought some lin en cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the lin en, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the en trance of the tomb. 47 Mary Mag da lene and Mary the moth er of Jo seph saw where he was laid.

Jesus Has Risen

16 When the Sab bath was over, Mary Mag da lene, Mary the moth er of

James, and Sa lo me bought spic es so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very ear ly on the first day of the week, just af ter sun rise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each oth er, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they en tered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sit ting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are look ing for Jesus the Naz a rene, who was cru ci fied. He has ris en! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his dis ci ples and Pe ter, ‘He is go

a 8 Some manuscripts have the following ending between verses 8 and 9, and one manuscript has it after verse 8 (omitting verses 920): 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.


Documents

Teen Study Bible: Gospel of Mark