Mark 6:14-8:26

English Standard Version

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (A)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[a] name had become known. Some^[b] said, ^(B)“John the Baptist^[c] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (C)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (E)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(F)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (G)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(H)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(I)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(J)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(K)on his birthday ^(L)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(M)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[d] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his ^(N)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (O)(P)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(Q)they had no leisure even to eat. ^32 (R)And they went away in ^(S)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going and ^(T)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When he went ashore he ^(U)saw a great crowd, and ^(V)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36 (W)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, ^(X)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(Y)they said to him, ^(Z)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[e] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(AA)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(AB)looked up to heaven and ^(AC)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (AD)Immediately he ^(AE)made his disciples get into ^(AF)the boat and go before him to the other side, ^(AG)to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, ^(AH)he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ And when ^(AI)evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about ^(AJ)the fourth watch of the night^[f] he came to them, walking on the sea. ^(AK)He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰ for they all saw him and ^(AL)were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ^(AM)“Take heart; it is I. ^(AN)Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for ^(AO)they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts ^(AP)were hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^53 (AQ)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(AR)Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^(AS)recognized him ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^(AT)the sick people ^(AU)on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^(AV)they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ^(AW)the fringe of his garment. And ^(AX)as many as touched it were made well.

Traditions and Commandments

7 ^(AY)Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^(AZ)who had come from Jerusalem, ² they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^(BA)defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,^[g] holding to ^(BB)the tradition of ^(BC)the elders, ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.^[h] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^(BD)the washing of ^(BE)cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.^[i]) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^(BF)the tradition of ^(BG)the elders, ^(BH)but eat with ^(BI)defiled hands?” ⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^(BJ)hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^(BM)rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ^(BN)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(BO)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)^[j]— ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ thus ^(BP)making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^(BQ)“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ^15 (BR)There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^{[k] 17} And when he had entered ^(BS)the house and left the people, ^(BT)his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then ^(BU)are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ since it enters not his heart ^(BV)but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[l] (^(BW)Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And he said, ^(BX)“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^(BY)murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, ^(BZ)sensuality, ^(CA)envy, ^(CB)slander, ^(CC)pride, ^(CD)foolishness. ^23 (CE)All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

²⁴ And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^[m] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ^26 (CF)Now the woman was a ^(CG)Gentile, ^(CH)a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be ^(CI)fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and ^(CJ)throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's ^(CK)crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may ^(CL)go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

^31 (CM)Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^(CN)the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^(CO)Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him ^(CP)a man who was deaf and ^(CQ)had a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^(CR)lay his hand on him. ³³ And ^(CS)taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^(CT)after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴ And ^(CU)looking up to heaven, ^(CV)he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ^35 (CW)And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ And ^(CX)Jesus^[n] charged them to tell no one. But ^(CY)the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were ^(CZ)astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8 ^(DA)In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, ^2 (DB)“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” ⁴ And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵ And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ^(DC)“Seven.” ⁶ And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and ^(DD)having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish. And ^(DE)having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸ And ^(DF)they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, ^(DG)seven baskets full. ⁹ And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately he got into ^(DH)the boat with his disciples and went to the district of ^(DI)Dalmanutha.^[o]

The Pharisees Demand a Sign

^11 (DJ)The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, ^(DK)seeking from him ^(DL)a sign from heaven ^(DM)to test him. ¹² And ^(DN)he sighed deeply ^(DO)in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ And ^(DP)he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; ^(DQ)beware of ^(DR)the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^(DS)Herod.”^{[p] 16} And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And ^(DT)Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^(DU)Do you not yet perceive ^(DV)or understand? ^(DW)Are your hearts hardened? ^18 (DX)Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke ^(DY)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And ^(DZ)the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² And they came ^(EA)to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³ And ^(EB)he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when ^(EC)he had ^(ED)spit on his eyes and ^(EE)laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus^[q] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, ^(EF)“Do not even enter the village.”