Mark 6; Mark 7

Mark 6

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, and his followers went with him.

2 On the Sabbath day he taught in the synagogue. Many people heard him and were amazed, saying, "Where did this man get these teachings? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And where did he get the power to do miracles?

3 He is just the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters are here with us." So the people were upset with Jesus.

4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and with his own people and in his own home."

5 So Jesus was not able to work any miracles there except to heal a few sick people by putting his hands on them.

6 He was amazed at how many people had no faith. Then Jesus went to other villages in that area and taught.

7 He called his twelve followers together and got ready to send them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

8 This is what Jesus commanded them: "Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick. Take no bread, no bag, and no money in your pockets.

9 Wear sandals, but take only the clothes you are wearing.

10 When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.

11 If the people in a certain place refuse to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place. Shake its dust off your feetn as a warning to them."

12 So the followers went out and preached that people should change their hearts and lives.

13 They forced many demons out and put olive oil on many sick people and healed them.

14 King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said, "He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles."

15 Others said, "He is Elijah." Other people said, "Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago."

16 When Herod heard this, he said, "I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!"

17 Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod's brother, but then Herod had married her.

18 John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother's wife."

19 So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn't,

20 because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John's preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.

21 Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John's death. On Herod's birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee.

22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him. So King Herod said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

23 He promised her, "Anything you ask for I will give to you -- up to half of my kingdom."

24 The girl went to her mother and asked, "What should I ask for?" Her mother answered, "Ask for the head of John the Baptist."

25 At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, "I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter."

26 Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked.

27 Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John's head. The soldier went and cut off John's head in the prison

28 and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

29 When John's followers heard this, they came and got John's body and put it in a tomb.

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him about all the things they had done and taught.

31 Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest."

32 So they went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place.

33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him.

34 When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.

35 When it was late in the day, his followers came to him and said, "No one lives in this place, and it is already very late.

36 Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat."

37 But Jesus answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!"

38 Jesus asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five loaves and two fish."

39 Then Jesus told his followers to have the people sit in groups on the green grass.

40 So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred.

41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and, looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all.

42 All the people ate and were satisfied.

43 The followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish.

44 There were five thousand men who ate.

45 Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home.

46 After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.

47 That night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on the land.

48 He saw his followers struggling hard to row the boat, because the wind was blowing against them. Between three and six o'clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water, and he wanted to walk past the boat.

49 But when they saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out.

50 They all saw him and were afraid. But quickly Jesus spoke to them and said, "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid."

51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind became calm. The followers were greatly amazed.

52 They did not understand about the miracle of the five loaves, because their minds were closed.

53 When they had crossed the lake, they came to shore at Gennesaret and tied the boat there.

54 When they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus.

55 They ran everywhere in that area and began to bring sick people on mats wherever they heard he was.

56 And everywhere he went -- into towns, cities, or countryside -- the people brought the sick to the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his coat, and all who touched it were healed.

Mark 7

1 When some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus.

2 They saw that some of Jesus' followers ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn't washed them.

3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in a special way according to their unwritten laws.

4 And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash themselves in a special way. They also follow many other unwritten laws, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.)

5 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Jesus, "Why don't your followers obey the unwritten laws which have been handed down to us? Why do your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean?"

6 Jesus answered, "Isaiah was right when he spoke about you hypocrites. He wrote, 'These people show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me.

7 Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules.'

8 You have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings."

9 Then Jesus said to them, "You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings.

10 Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.'

11 But you say a person can tell his father or mother, 'I have something I could use to help you, but it is Corban -- a gift to God.'

12 You no longer let that person use that money for his father or his mother.

13 By your own rules, which you teach people, you are rejecting what God said. And you do many things like that."

14 After Jesus called the crowd to him again, he said, "Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying.

15 There is nothing people put into their bodies that makes them unclean. People are made unclean by the things that come out of them."

16

17 When Jesus left the people and went into the house, his followers asked him about this story.

18 Jesus said, "Do you still not understand? Surely you know that nothing that enters someone from the outside can make that person unclean.

19 It does not go into the mind, but into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body." (When Jesus said this, he meant that no longer was any food unclean for people to eat.)

20 And Jesus said, "The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean.

21 All these evil things begin inside people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery,

22 greed, evil actions, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride, and foolish living.

23 All these evil things come from inside and make people unclean."

24 Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre. When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden.

25 A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard that he was there. So she quickly came to Jesus and fell at his feet.

26 She was Greek, born in Phoenicia, in Syria. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter.

27 Jesus told the woman, "It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want."

28 But she answered, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table can eat the children's crumbs."

29 Then Jesus said, "Because of your answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter."

30 The woman went home and found her daughter lying in bed; the demon was gone.

31 Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon to Lake Galilee, to the area of the Ten Towns.

32 While he was there, some people brought a man to him who was deaf and could not talk plainly. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him.

33 Jesus led the man away from the crowd, by himself. He put his fingers in the man's ears and then spit and touched the man's tongue.

34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to the man, "Ephphatha!" (This means, "Be opened.")

35 Instantly the man was able to hear and to use his tongue so that he spoke clearly.

36 Jesus commanded the people not to tell anyone about what happened. But the more he commanded them, the more they told about it.

37 They were completely amazed and said, "Jesus does everything well. He makes the deaf hear! And those who can't talk he makes able to speak."