Mark tells us the Good News about Jesus
An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) of the Gospel of Mark
Ruth Davies and Shirley Chapman
This translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.
Words in boxes are comments on the text.
A word list at the end explains words with a star * by them.
Mark wrote this book while he was living in Rome. Rome is now the capital city in Italy. He wrote it at some time between *AD 50 and *AD 70. Mark was also called John Mark. He was a young man when Jesus was working on earth. In the book called Acts, we can read some things about Mark. A group of people who believed in Jesus met together in the home of Mark’s mother (Acts 12:12). Paul and Barnabas went to many different places to tell people about Jesus. And sometimes, Mark went with them.
Mark wrote his book for people who were not *Jews. At that time, the man who ruled the *Roman world was hurting Christians. Jesus had said that men would hurt his people. Mark wanted to tell everyone about what Jesus had done. He wrote about how Jesus lived. He explained who Jesus was. Jesus was a man, but he was also God’s son. Mark wrote about how Jesus died on a *cross. And he wrote about how Jesus became alive again. He explained how people could let God rule in their lives. He wrote about the things that Jesus taught the people.
Mark was a friend of Peter. Peter was one of the 12 men that Jesus chose to follow him. He called them *apostles. Mark often listened when Peter was talking about Jesus. He wrote down the things that Peter said. And he wrote about what he had seen himself.
This is a list of the different parts of Mark’s book:
1 What happened when Jesus started his work ~ 1:1–1:13
2 What happened when Jesus was working in Galilee ~ 1:14–9:50
3 What happened when Jesus went from Galilee to Jerusalem ~ 10:1–10:52
4 What happened in Jerusalem in the last week of Jesus’ life ~ 11:1-15:47
5 Jesus becomes alive again ~ 16:1-8
6 People see Jesus alive ~ 16:9 –20
Jerusalem is now the capital city in *Israel. And Galilee is part of *Israel.
v1 The good news about Jesus Christ starts like this. He is the Son of God. v2 Isaiah was a special servant of God. He wrote about someone who would come. He would come after Isaiah was dead. Isaiah did not know this man’s name. Isaiah wrote this message from God in his book.
‘I will send someone before you. He will tell you my message.
He will prepare a way for you.
v3 You will hear him shout in the *desert. He will say,
“The *Lord is coming. So prepare a road for him to travel on.
Make the paths flat.” ’
Isaiah was telling people about a man called John. John will say to the people that they should prepare themselves for the *Messiah. They must stop doing wrong things. People mended the roads before a king travelled along them. Isaiah is using this as a picture. This helps the people to understand how to prepare for God’s special *messenger.
v4 So John came to a *desert place with the message from God. ‘You have done many wrong things’, he taught everybody. ‘You must stop doing these wrong things and you must obey God again. You must tell God that you are sorry. Then God will *forgive you and I will *baptise you.’ He *baptised people in the river.
*Baptism showed that a person wanted to stop his old way of life. He would tell God that he was sorry. He was sorry for the wrong things that he had done. Now he would obey God again. John may have poured water over the people when he *baptised them. Or he may have put the people under the water completely for a moment.
v5 Many people who lived in Jerusalem city and the country called Judea went to listen to John. The people told God about all the wrong things that they had done. Then John *baptised the people in the river Jordan. v6 John wore clothes that he had made from hair from a *camel. He also wore a belt that he had made from dried animal skin. His usual food was large insects and *honey from the *desert.
Judea was part of *Israel and Jerusalem was the capital city.
A *camel is a large animal like a horse. It can carry heavy things on its back.
*Honey is very sweet. An insect called a bee makes honey. The insects that John ate were called locusts.
v7 ‘A person is coming soon’, John said to the people. ‘He is more important than I am. I am not even good enough to undo his shoes. v8 I have *baptised you with water. But this other person will *baptise you with the *Holy Spirit.’
v9 Soon after this, Jesus left the town called Nazareth in Galilee. He went to see John and John *baptised him in the river Jordan. v10 While Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw something else happen. God opened the sky and the *Holy Spirit came down. He came down like a bird and he rested on Jesus. v11 Jesus heard someone who was speaking from the sky. The person said, ‘You are my son. I love you. You cause me to be very happy.’
v12 Immediately, the *Holy Spirit sent Jesus out into the *desert. v13 He was in the *desert for 40 days. All this time, *Satan tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. There were wild animals near to Jesus in the *desert, but God’s *angels kept him safe.
v14 King Herod said to his soldiers, ‘Put John in prison.’ After that happened, Jesus went to Galilee. He told people the good news about God. v15 ‘Now is the time that God will begin to rule his people’, Jesus said. ‘You have done many wrong things. You must tell God that you are sorry. Believe the Good News.’
Herod had sent his wife away. He then married Herodias. Herodias was already the wife of Philip, the brother of Herod. John told Herod that he had done wrong things. Herod was angry with him, so he said to his soldiers, ‘Put John in prison.’
This John was also called John the *Baptist because he *baptised people. A *disciple was someone who went with his teacher. He learned to do what his teacher did.
The people and places that a king rules are his kingdom. The people whom God rules are his kingdom. They are the Kingdom of God.
v16 One day, Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. He saw two brothers. One brother was called Simon and the other brother was called Andrew. Their job was to catch fish. They were throwing their *nets into the lake to catch fish. v17 ‘Come with me’, Jesus said to them. ‘I will teach you how to catch people.’ v18 Simon and Andrew immediately stopped working with their *nets and they went with Jesus.
Simon was also called Peter. Jesus did not mean that Simon and Andrew would really catch people. He would teach Simon and Andrew how to tell other people the good news about himself. They would bring people to Jesus, so that they could believe in him. These people could then ask God to rule them and they could be Jesus’ *disciples.
Simon and his brother lived in a town called Capernaum. This town is on the shore of Lake Galilee. Jesus had taught in that town. He had caused many people to become well again from their illnesses. So they knew that Jesus was a very powerful person.
v19 Then Jesus continued to walk along the shore. Soon he saw two more men. They were called James and John. They were brothers and their father was called Zebedee. They were in their boat and they were mending their *nets. v20 When Jesus saw them, he asked them to come with him. Immediately James and John left their father and his other workers in the boat. They went with Jesus.
v21 Then Jesus, Simon, Andrew, James and John went into Capernaum. When the next *Jewish rest day came, Jesus went into the meeting place. He began to teach the people there.
The meeting place was called a *synagogue. It is a building where *Jewish people meet to pray and to learn about God.
The *Sabbath day is a day when *Jewish people rest. It is our Saturday.
v22 Jesus taught the people very well. He taught with authority and this surprised them. He was not like the teachers of the *Law, because they did not speak with authority. v23 In the meeting place, there was a man who had a bad *spirit. It lived inside him and it caused him to shout loudly. v24 ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, it said, ‘what do you want to do to us? Have you come to kill us? I know who you are. You are the *Holy Person who comes from God.’
v25 Jesus spoke to the bad *spirit. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Come out of the man!’ v26 The bad *spirit caused the man’s body to move about quickly. It shouted loudly and then it came out of the man.
v27 All the people were very surprised, and they said to each other, ‘We do not know how this man can teach like this. He is teaching us something new and he speaks with authority. He can say to bad *spirits what they must do. And they obey him.’ v28 People continued to tell everyone the news about Jesus. Everywhere in Galilee, people heard about everything that Jesus was doing.
v29 Then Jesus left the *Jewish meeting place. He took James and John with him to the home of Simon and Andrew. v30 The mother of Simon’s wife was ill in bed. Her body was very hot. When Jesus arrived, Simon and Andrew told him about her. v31 So he went near to her and he held her hand. Then he helped her to sit up and immediately her body stopped being very hot. She then prepared food for Jesus and his *disciples.
v32 That evening, when the sun had gone down, many people came to see Jesus. They brought with them everyone who was ill. Bad *spirits were living inside some of the people. v33 Many people who lived in the town came to the door of the house. v34 Jesus caused many sick people to become well again. They had many different illnesses. He also caused many bad *spirits to leave people. The *spirits knew who he was, and so Jesus did not let them speak.
The *Jews had many rules about what they should not do on their rest day. They must not work or carry things on that day. The rest day ended when the sun went down. So the people waited until then to bring the sick people to him.
v35 Jesus woke up very early the next morning, while it was still dark. He went out of the house to a quiet place. There he was alone and he prayed to God. v36 Later, Simon and the other *disciples went out to look for him. v37 When they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’
v38 ‘Let us go somewhere else’, Jesus replied. ‘We will go to other towns near here, so that I can teach the people there also. That is the reason that I am here.’ v39 So Jesus travelled everywhere in Galilee. He taught the people in their meeting places. He caused many bad *spirits to come out of people.
v40 One day, a man with *leprosy came to see Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Do you want to help me?’ he said. ‘I know that you can cause me to become well again.’
v41 Jesus felt very sorry for him. He moved his hand towards him and touched him. ‘I do want to help you’, Jesus said. ‘Be well!’ v42 Immediately, the *leprosy left the man and he was well again.
v43 Jesus spoke to him strongly when he sent him away. v44 ‘Listen. Do not tell anyone about this’, he said. ‘But go and show yourself to the *priest in *God’s Great House. Take a gift to him for God. Moses taught the people what gift to take to God. This will show other people that you are now well.’ v45 But instead, the man went away and talked to everybody. He told them what had happened to him. Because he did this, Jesus could not go into a town. Everybody knew him, and so Jesus stayed in quiet places outside the towns. But still the people came from everywhere to see him.
v1 Jesus returned to Capernaum a few days later. The people there heard that he had come back home. v2 Many people who wanted to see Jesus came into the house. So the house was full of people. There was also a crowd outside the door. Jesus was teaching the people about God, v3 when some men arrived. They were carrying a sick man who could not move his legs. Four of the men carried the sick man on a flat piece of wood. v4 They could not reach Jesus because of the crowd. So they carried the man up on to the roof of the house. They then made a hole in the roof over the place where Jesus was sitting. They put the piece of wood with the man on it down through the hole. v5 Jesus saw the man and his friends. And he knew that they believed in him. So he said to the man, ‘My friend, I *forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.’
Houses in *Israel have flat roofs. There are steps outside the house up to the roof. The roof is made from hard dry *soil and small sticks. It was easy for the men to make a big hole in the roof. They could then tie *ropes on to the flat piece of wood and put it down through the roof. The man came down in front of Jesus.
v6 Now, some teachers of the *Law were sitting there. They thought about what Jesus had said to the man. v7 ‘This man should not have said this’, they said to themselves. ‘He is speaking like he is God. Only God can *forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’
v8 Immediately, Jesus knew what the teachers were thinking. ‘You should not think in that way’, he said to them. v9 ‘I said to this man, “I *forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your bed and walk.” v10 But I want you to know this. I, the *Son of Man have authority on earth. I can *forgive people for all the wrong things that they have done.’ Then he spoke to the man who could not move his legs. v11 ‘I am saying to you. Stand up! Lift up the piece of wood that you are lying on. Then go home.’ v12 The man immediately stood up and picked up the piece of wood. Everyone watched him walk out of the house. This surprised all the people very much. ‘God, you are good and powerful’, they said. ‘How great you are! We have never seen anything like this before.’
Jesus often spoke about himself as the *Son of Man. He did this so that people would remember about some messages in the Bible. You can read about the *Son of Man in the Bible in the book called Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14).
v13 So Jesus went back to the shore of Lake Galilee. A large crowd came to listen to him, so he began to teach them. v14 While Jesus walked along, he saw Levi. Levi was the son of Alphaeus. His job was to receive money for the government and he was sitting in his place in his office. ‘Come with me and be my *disciple’, Jesus said to him. Levi stood up from his place and he went with Jesus.
Levi received money for the *Roman government. The *Jews did not like men who did this job.
v15 Then Jesus went to eat a meal at Levi’s house. Many people followed Jesus and his *disciples and ate there with them. Some of these people also received money for the government. Some of them had done many wrong things. v16 Some teachers of the *Law saw Jesus while he was eating with all those people. They asked his *disciples, ‘Why does Jesus eat with these men who receive money for the *Roman government? And why does he eat with other bad people?’
v17 Jesus heard what the teachers of the *Law had said. ‘People who are well do not need a doctor’, he answered them. ‘People who are ill need a doctor. Some people think that they are completely good. I have not come to ask them to be my *disciples. Many people know that they have done wrong things. I have come to help those people to do what is right.’
The *Pharisees taught people the *Law that God had given to Moses. They also taught many of their own ideas. They said that it was wrong for Jesus to eat with bad people. The *Pharisees thought that they themselves were really good people. They thought that they obeyed all of God’s *Laws.
v18 At this time, the *disciples of John the *Baptist and the *disciples of the *Pharisees were not eating any food. They were doing this because they wanted to pray. Some people came to Jesus and asked him a question. ‘The *disciples of John the *Baptist and the *disciples of the *Pharisees are not eating any food. So why are your *disciples eating food?’
John the *Baptist and the *Pharisees taught their *disciples to *fast. That means they did not eat any food for a time. This caused them to feel closer to God when they prayed.
v19 Jesus answered them with a picture story. ‘You know that the friends of the *bridegroom cannot refuse to eat food at a marriage. While the *bridegroom is with them, they will not do that. v20 But the time will come when people will take the *bridegroom away from them. Then his friends will stop eating food and they will pray instead.’
A *bridegroom is a man who has promised to marry a woman. This picture story is called a *parable. A *parable shows how two things are the same or different. Jesus often told picture stories to teach the people. In this story, Jesus is like a *bridegroom. His *disciples are like the friends of the *bridegroom. While Jesus was with his *disciples, they were very happy. But soon he would go back to his Father. Then they would start to go without food sometimes. Then they would be able to pray better.
v21 Then Jesus told them another story. ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to repair an old coat. If he does, the hole will grow bigger. When someone washes the coat, the new piece of cloth will become smaller. The new cloth will tear the old cloth again and leave a bigger hole than before. v22 In the same way, nobody pours new *wine into old *wineskins. If he does, then the new *wine will tear the old *wineskins. The *wine will run out and he will lose it. The *wineskins will not be good to use any longer. Instead of this, you must put new *wine into new *wineskins.
*Wine is a strong drink that people make from fruit. It grows as it gets older. People put *wine in *wineskins to keep it. A *wineskin is a bottle that someone has made from an animal’s skin. *Wineskins become hard when they get older. So, new *wine would cause them to tear.
Jesus is teaching the people that the old *wineskins are like the old *Law. In the same way, the old coat is like the old *Law. The new *wine and the new cloth are like the new things that Jesus was teaching them. They could not mix the old and the new together.
v23 One rest day, Jesus and his *disciples were walking through the fields where *wheat was growing. His *disciples picked some *wheat seeds. v24 Some *Pharisees were with them. And they saw what the *disciples were doing. So they said to Jesus, ‘Your *disciples should not pick *wheat seeds on our rest day. You know that it is against the *Law of God.’
v25 ‘Remember what King David and his friends did. They were hungry’, Jesus replied. ‘You have read about this. v26 David went into *God’s Great House and he took the special bread from there. He ate some and he gave some of it to his friends. Abiathar was the leader of the *priests in God’s house at that time. It is against the *Law of God for anyone except the *priests to eat this special bread.’
We can read this story in the book called 1 Samuel, chapter 21.
v27 Then Jesus said to the *Pharisees, ‘God made the rest day to help people. He did not make people for the rest day. v28 The *Son of Man has authority to say what people can do on the rest day.’
v1 On another rest day, Jesus went into the *Jewish meeting place. A man was there. His hand was very small and weak and he could not use it. v2 Some *Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things. If he caused this man to become well on their rest day, then they could say to him, ‘You are not obeying God’s *laws.’ v3 Jesus said to the man, ‘Stand here in front of everyone.’
v4 Then Jesus said to the *Pharisees, ‘I will ask you something. What can we do on our rest day? What does the *Law say? Does it say that we should do good things? Or does it say that we should do bad things? Should we save a person’s life? Or should we kill?’
Nobody said anything.
v5 Jesus looked round at everybody. He felt angry with them. He also felt sad because they did not want to understand him. Then he said to the man, ‘Show me your hand.’ The man showed him his hand and it became well again. v6 Then the *Pharisees went away from their meeting place. They began to talk to each other about how they could kill Jesus. They talked about this to the group of people who obeyed Herod.
The people who obeyed Herod were important *Jews. Herod ruled part of *Israel for the *Romans. His friends were happy because the *Romans had authority in *Israel. They did not like Jesus. They thought that he would make problems for Herod.
v7 Jesus left the meeting place and he went away to Lake Galilee with his *disciples. A large crowd from Galilee also followed them. v8 Many people heard about everything that Jesus was doing. They came to see him from Judea, Jerusalem and a part of the country called Idumea. They came from places on the other side of the river Jordan. And they came from the towns called Tyre and Sidon. v9 The crowd was very large. So Jesus asked his *disciples to prepare a small boat for him. This would stop the people from pushing against him. v10 Sick people pushed to the front, because they were trying to touch him. They knew that he had caused many people to become well again. v11 Often, a person with a bad *spirit saw Jesus. Then, the *spirit caused the person to fall down on the ground in front of Jesus. The *spirit caused him to shout out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ v12 Jesus spoke strongly to the bad *spirits, ‘You must not tell anyone who I am’, he said.
v13 Jesus went up on the side of a mountain. He chose some men and he asked them to go there with him. v14 He chose a group of 12 men who were already his *disciples. They would be his *apostles. He wanted them to be near him. He would send them out to teach people about God. v15 He gave these men authority to cause bad *spirits to leave people. v16 These are the names of the 12 *apostles:
Simon, whom Jesus called Peter,
v17 James and John who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them ‘Boanerges’, which means ‘men who are like a loud noise in a storm’,
v18 Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, who was the son of Alphaeus,
v19 Thaddaeus,
Simon the *Zealot and
Judas Iscariot. He sold Jesus to those people who wanted to kill him.
Jesus had many *disciples. He chose 12 of them to be with him, so that he could teach them. He also called these 12 men *apostles. The word *apostle means that someone has sent the person out to do a job. Their job was to tell other people about Jesus. In his book, John calls Bartholomew, Nathanael (John 1:45). Matthew is another name for Levi. In Luke 6:16, Thaddaeus is called Judas, the son of James.
We think that Jesus chose 12 *apostles because there are 12 families in *Israel. We can read about the families in the book called Genesis, chapter 46.
v20 Then Jesus went back home and again a crowd came to the house. There were so many people that there was no time for Jesus and his *disciples to eat. v21 His family heard what was happening. So they went to take him away with them. They thought that Jesus was crazy.
Jesus’ family lived in Nazareth. We think that they came 40 kilometres from that town to Capernaum to take him away with them.
v22 Some teachers of the *Law came down from Jerusalem. ‘Jesus has a bad *spirit called Beelzebul, which is living in him’, they said. ‘*Satan rules all the bad *spirits. So *Satan helps Jesus to cause the *spirits to come out of people.’
Beelzebul is another name for *Satan. They are both names for God’s most important enemy.
v23 So Jesus spoke to the teachers of the *Law. ‘Come here and listen’, he said to them. Then he spoke to them. He was using picture stories. ‘*Satan would not fight against himself! v24 If groups of people start to fight other groups in that same country, then they will destroy their own country. v25 And if the people in one family start to fight against each other, then they will destroy their own family. v26 In the same way, if *Satan fights against his own people, he will soon destroy them. He would have nobody to rule. v27 Nobody can easily go into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do this, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man’s valuable things. v28 What I say to you is true. God can *forgive all the wrong things that people do. He can also *forgive people who say bad things about him. v29 But God will never *forgive people who say bad things about the *Holy Spirit. This wrong thing that they have done will remain for always.’
v30 Jesus said this to the teachers of the *Law, because of the things that they were saying about him. ‘A bad *spirit is living in Jesus’, they were saying.
v31 Then, Jesus’ mother and his brothers arrived and they stood outside the house. They sent someone inside with a message. ‘Tell Jesus that we want to speak to him’, they said. v32 A crowd was sitting there with Jesus. Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside the house. They are looking for you.’
v33 Jesus answered, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers are.’
v34 Then he looked at all the people who were sitting round him. ‘Look. Here are my mother and brothers! v35 My brothers and sisters and mother are those people who hear and obey the message from God’, said Jesus.
People who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God.
v1 Again Jesus began to teach by Lake Galilee. The crowd that came together was very large. So, he climbed into a boat and sat down. The boat was in the water, and the people stayed on the shore. v2 Jesus used stories to teach them many things. v3 ‘Listen to me’, said Jesus. ‘A farmer went out to plant seed in his field. v4 While he was throwing the seeds, some fell on the path. The wild birds came and ate those seeds. v5 Some seeds fell on *soil with rocks in it. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the *soil was not deep. v6 But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon dried up because the *soil was not deep enough for them. v7 Some seeds fell among bushes with sharp branches, which grew up with the young plants. These bushes stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants, so the plants did not make any new seeds. v8 Some seeds fell on good *soil and good strong plants grew from these seeds. Some plants made 100 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds and some plants made 30 new seeds.’
v9 When Jesus had finished the story, he told the crowd, ‘All of you can hear me, so you must listen carefully to me!’
v10 When the crowd had gone, the 12 *disciples and some of the other people came to Jesus. They had heard him tell this story. And they wanted to know what it meant. v11 ‘God helps you to understand what these stories mean,’ Jesus replied. ‘But they are a secret to other people. They do not understand how God rules in the lives of his people. But I teach them by using picture stories. v12 So that,
“They are looking and looking. But they do not see.
They are listening and listening. But they do not understand.”
If they did understand, then they would obey God. And if they did obey God, then he would *forgive them.’
v13 Then Jesus answered those who had asked the question. ‘You should have understood this story. You should understand all these stories. v14 The seed is the message from God. The farmer is like a person who teaches people about that message. v15 Some seeds fell on the path. The path is like some people who hear the message. But then *Satan comes quickly to them. And he takes away what they heard. v16 Some of the seeds fell on *soil with rocks in it. This *soil is like some people who hear the message from God. They are happy to believe it for a time. v17 But they do not live differently because they have heard the message. They believe in God for a time. Then, they start to have problems. Other people also start to say bad things about them. So, immediately, these people stop believing God’s message. v18 Some seeds fell among bushes that had sharp branches. This *soil is like some other people who hear the message from God. v19 But they have many troubles in their minds. They think that more money and other valuable things will cause them to be happy. These thoughts stop them obeying God. They are like plants that do not grow new seeds. v20 But some seeds fell on good *soil. This *soil is like other people who hear the message from God. They understand it and they obey God. These people are like good plants. From one seed, the good plants make 30 seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 100 new seeds. From the little amount that they received they make much more.’
v21 Then Jesus said to his *disciples, ‘Nobody brings a *lamp into a house and puts it under a jar or under a bed. You do not do that. You put it in a high place. v22 God hides some things now, but one day, people will see them. God covers some things now because he does not want people to see them. But one day, people will see all these things. v23 I say this to those of you who are listening to me. Think carefully about what I say.’
At that time, people burned oil in a dish. They called this dish a *lamp. They put the *lamp in a high place so that people could see. The word of God is like the light from a *lamp. We should not hide it. Jesus wants all peoples to hear the message about him.
v24 ‘You should be careful about how you listen’, said Jesus. ‘God will give to you in the way that you give to other people. And you will receive even more. v25 A person who has some things will receive more. Some people have nothing. They will lose even the little bit that they do have.’
Jesus is telling his *disciples about how to listen to him. They should listen carefully. Then they would be able to understand his message. They must believe in the message from God. And then they must do what he says. They will then understand more and more. Some people think that they know about God. But they do not obey. And so God will take away from their minds what they have heard.
v26 Then Jesus said, ‘This is what it will be like when God rules his people. A man throws seed in his field. v27 Then he sleeps at night and wakes up to work in the day. The seeds start to grow into plants. They continue to grow, but the man does not know how. v28 The *soil causes the plants to grow. The leaves of the plant grow first. Then the flower appears, and then the seeds. v29 When the plants have completely grown, the man will cut them down. It is time for him to take the seeds to use for food.’
v30 ‘I will tell you again. It will be like this when God rules his people’, said Jesus. ‘I will explain it with another story. v31 It is like this. A man takes a very small seed and he puts it in the *soil. It is the smallest seed in the world. v32 But when it starts to grow, it becomes bigger than the largest bush. It will have big branches. And the birds will come and live there. They will build their homes in the shade of the branches.’
v33 Jesus taught the people by many picture stories like these. He told them as much as they could understand. v34 He always used picture stories to teach the people. Later, he explained the picture stories to his own *disciples when he was alone with them.
v35 On that same day, in the evening, Jesus spoke to his *disciples. ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake’, he said. v36 So they left the crowd behind on the shore. Jesus was already in the boat, and the *disciples also climbed into it. They began to sail across the lake. Some other boats also went with them. v37 Then a strong wind began to blow across the lake. Water began to fill the boat so that soon the boat was almost under the water. v38 Jesus was in the back of the boat. He was asleep and his head was resting on something soft. The *disciples woke Jesus, and they said to him, ‘Teacher, does it not matter to you if we die in the water?’
v39 Jesus stood up and he spoke to the wind and the water. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Stop!’ Then the wind stopped and the water became flat again.
v40 ‘You ought not to be so frightened’, Jesus said to his *disciples. ‘You should believe in me by now.’
v41 Then they were very frightened. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked each other. ‘Even the wind and the water obey him.’
v1 Jesus and his *disciples sailed across Lake Galilee to the part of the country called Gerasa.
This place is across the lake from Galilee on the east side. About 2 kilometres from the shore, there is a small village. There were some big holes in the rocks there. The people from the village buried dead people in the holes. Some people also used the big holes as houses. The people who lived in Gerasa were called Gerasenes.
v2 When they reached the shore, Jesus climbed out of the boat. A man came towards Jesus. A bad *spirit was living inside him. He came out from one of the holes where people buried dead people. v3 He lived in one of these big holes in the rock. Nobody could keep him tied with metal *ropes any more. v4 Many times people had tied his arms and legs with metal *ropes, but he always broke them. Nobody was strong enough to cause him to become quiet. v5 During the day or night, he walked about the hills and the places where they buried dead people. He would often scream and cut himself with stones.
v6 He saw Jesus a long way away and he ran to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. v7 He screamed loudly, ‘Jesus, what are you going to do with me? You are the Son of the powerful God above. Please promise God that you will not hurt me.’ v8 He had said this because Jesus had already said to the bad *spirit, ‘Come out of this man.’
v9 Then Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’ ‘My name is Legion’, he replied, ‘because there are so many bad *spirits in me.’
A legion was a group of 6000 soldiers. People called him Legion, because very many bad *spirits lived in him. The bad *spirits spoke to Jesus by the man.
v10 He said to Jesus again and again, ‘Please do not send these bad *spirits away from this part of the country.’
v11 A large group of pigs was eating on the side of the hill. v12 ‘Jesus, send us to the pigs. Let us go into them’, said the bad *spirits. v13 Jesus told them that they could go into the pigs. So, they came out of the man and they went into the pigs. There were about 2000 pigs there. All of them rushed together down the hill to the shore. They all ran into the water and they died.
v14 Some men were feeding these pigs before this happened. And they saw what had happened. They ran away to the towns and villages that were near to that place. They told all the people that they met in these places about the man and the pigs. Those people went out to see what had happened. v15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man. The man was now sitting quietly. The bad *spirits had gone out of him. He was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. All the people were afraid. v16 Some people had seen Jesus cause the man to become well. They told the other people what had happened to the man and to the pigs. v17 Then the people who lived in Gerasa said to Jesus, ‘Please leave our part of the country.’
v18 Jesus climbed back into the boat. But the man who had had the *spirits spoke to him. ‘Please let me come with you, Jesus’, he said again and again. v19 ‘No’, Jesus replied. ‘Go back to your home and your friends. Tell everyone what has happened. Tell them what great things the *Lord has done for you. Tell them how he has been kind you.’ v20 So the man went away. Everywhere he went in the part of the country called Decapolis, he spoke to all the people. He told them what Jesus had done for him. And all the people were very surprised.
v21 So Jesus returned to the other side of Lake Galilee. A large crowd came to him when he reached the shore. v22 A man called Jairus came to meet Jesus. He was a ruler at the *Jewish meeting place. When he saw Jesus, he went down on his knees. His face touched the ground in front of Jesus. v23 ‘Please, please come to my house and put your hands on my little daughter’, he said to Jesus. ‘She is very ill and she will soon die. But if you do this, then she will live.’ v24 So Jesus started to go with Jairus to his house.
The large crowd that followed Jesus was pushing against him. v25 In the crowd, there was a sick woman who had bled for 12 years. v26 She had paid many doctors to help her, but they could not do anything. But they caused her more pain instead. Now she had spent all her money and she had not become any better. Instead, she became worse. v27 She had heard about the things that Jesus did. So, she came in the crowd behind him and she touched his clothes. v28 She had thought to herself, ‘If I can touch his clothes, then he will cause me to become well again.’ v29 And immediately she touched his coat, the blood stopped. Her pain was gone and she was well again.
This sick woman should not have been in the crowd. She should not have touched anyone. This was in the *Jewish *Law. We can read about this in the book called Leviticus. (See Leviticus 15:25.)
v30 Jesus immediately felt that his *power to make people well had touched someone. So he turned round in the crowd and he asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
v31 ‘The crowd is pushing against you’, said his *disciples. ‘You cannot ask who touched you!’
v32 But Jesus looked round him. He wanted to see who had touched him. v33 The woman knew what had happened to her. And she was very frightened. But she came to Jesus. And she went down on her knees and her face touched the ground in front of him. Then she told him everything that had happened to her. v34 ‘Young woman, do not have troubles in your mind’, said Jesus. ‘You are well again because you believed in me. Go now. You will not be sick any longer.’
v35 While Jesus was speaking to the woman, some men arrived from the house of Jairus. ‘Your daughter is dead’, they said to the ruler of the *Jewish meeting house. ‘Do not ask any longer for the teacher to come.’
v36 Jesus heard what the men said to Jairus. ‘Do not be afraid’, Jesus said to him. ‘Believe in me.’
v37 Jesus took only Peter, James and James’s brother John with him. He would not let anybody else go with him. v38 Then they came to Jairus’s house. And Jesus saw that there were many people there. They were all crying. They were making a loud noise. v39 Jesus went into the house and he said to the people, ‘You should not be crying and making a loud noise. The child is not dead, she is asleep.’ v40 The people *laughed at him.
Then Jesus sent the crowd to wait outside the house. He went into the room where the child was lying. The child’s father and mother were with him. He also took Peter, James and John into the room with him. v41 Jesus then held the little girl’s hand. ‘Talitha koum’, he said to her. This means, ‘Little girl, I ask you to stand up.’ v42 The little girl stood up immediately and she started to walk about. She was 12 years old. Everybody in the house was completely surprised. v43 ‘You must not tell anyone what has happened here’, Jesus said to them. ‘Now give the little girl something to eat’, he said to her parents.
v1 Jesus then left Capernaum and he travelled back to Nazareth. He had lived there when he was a boy. His *disciples went with him.
Jesus’ parents had lived in a town called Nazareth.
v2 When it was the *Jewish rest day, Jesus went to their meeting place. He began to teach the many people who were there. They were very surprised about the things that he was teaching them. ‘Where did this man learn all these things?’ they asked each other. ‘How does he know so much? How does he do all these powerful things? v3 We know who this man is. He is the *carpenter, and Mary is his mother. We also know his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters also live here in the town among us.’ They would not accept Jesus.
At that time, a *carpenter was a man who worked with wood or stone to make things. The people thought that they knew everything about Jesus. They believed that he was only a man like them.
v4 ‘People do not accept one of God’s special servants who comes from their own town’, Jesus said to them. ‘His own people and his own family will not believe that he receives messages from God. But people in other places accept him.’
v5 Jesus could not do many powerful things there in Nazareth, because they did not believe in him. But he did put his hands on a few sick people and he caused them to become well again. v6 Jesus was very surprised that the people did not believe in him. Then he travelled from one village to another village. He was teaching the people in the villages.
v7 Jesus asked his 12 *disciples to come to him. He gave them authority over bad *spirits. He said that they should go out in pairs.
v8 This is what Jesus said to them. ‘When you travel, you must take nothing with you except a stick. Do not take food, a bag or money in your purse. v9 Wear shoes, but do not take extra clothes.
Jesus wanted his *apostles to believe in him. The *Holy Spirit would say to other people, ‘Give these men everything that they need.’
v10 In each town, go to a house where you can stay. Accept the food in that one house until you leave that town. v11 Perhaps you might go to a town where the people do not accept you. They will not listen to you. Then you should leave that town. When you go, say to the people, “There is dirt from your town on our feet. We will clean it off before we leave.” This shows them that they have not believed the message from God.’
v12 So they started to go and they began to teach the people about God. ‘Stop doing wrong things. And say to God that you are sorry’, they said. ‘Then you must start to obey him again.’ v13 They caused many bad *spirits to come out of people. They also put oil on many sick people to cause them to become well again.
v14 About that time, some people spoke to King Herod about Jesus. They told him about all the things that Jesus was doing. Many other people had heard about Jesus. Some people were saying that Jesus was John the *Baptist. They also said that John had become alive again. ‘This is why Jesus is so powerful. And this is why he does such powerful things’, they said.
v15 Other people said, ‘Jesus is Elijah who has become alive again.’ And other people said, ‘He is a special servant of God, like one of the special servants who lived a long time ago.’
Some of the people thought that Jesus was Elijah. Elijah was a special servant of God. He had spoken powerful messages from God and he had done many great things. A special servant of God called Malachi said that Elijah would return. (See Malachi chapter 4, verse 5). The story about Elijah is in the book called 2 Kings, chapter 2. People who were God’s special servants were called *prophets.
The name of this Herod was Antipas and he ruled Galilee from 4 *BC to *AD 39. The name of Herod’s brother was Philip. Philip ruled Iturea and Traconitis. These places are all different parts of the country called *Israel.
v16 Herod heard what people were saying. And he thought about it. ‘My soldier cut off John’s head’, Herod said to himself. ‘But John has become alive again!’
v17 Herod himself had asked his soldiers to take hold of John. He had said to his soldiers, ‘Tie *ropes round John’s hands and feet and put him in prison.’ Herod had done this because of his wife Herodias. She had been the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. v18 Because Herod had married her, John had said to him, ‘Herodias was your brother’s wife. So you did not obey God’s *Law when you married her.’
Herodias had left Philip, her husband. Then Herod married her. And so John told him what Moses had written in the *Law. The *Law said, ‘A man must not marry his brother’s wife while his brother is still alive.’ Herod was angry with John when he told him that. So, Herod asked his men to put John in prison.
v19 Herodias did not like John because of the things that he had said to Herod. So she wanted to kill him. But Herod would not let her do that. v20 Herod thought very good things about John. John was a good man who obeyed God. And Herod knew that. So he kept John safe. Herod liked to listen to everything that John taught. But the message that he taught caused Herod to have troubles in his own mind.
v21 Then, one day, Herodias saw a good moment for the soldiers to kill John. It was Herod’s birthday and he asked many people to come to a special meal. Important officers and men who helped him to rule the place called Galilee were there. All the important soldiers from Galilee were also there. Many rich people also came. v22 The daughter of Herodias came in and she danced in front of Herod and his visitors. Her dance caused them all to become very happy.
‘Ask me for anything that you want’, Herod said to the girl. ‘I will give it to you. v23 What I say is true. And God is listening to me. I will give you anything that you ask me to give you. I will even give you half of all that I rule over.’
v24 The girl went out of the room and she said to her mother, ‘What should I ask him for?’ ‘Ask for the head of John the *Baptist’, her mother replied.
v25 The girl returned quickly and she spoke immediately to Herod. ‘I want you to give me now the head of John the *Baptist on a plate.’
v26 Then Herod was very sad, but he could not refuse her. He had given her a special promise in front of God and all his visitors had heard it. He did not want to say to her that she could not have it. v27 So, immediately, he asked a soldier to come to him. ‘Cut off John’s head and bring it here’, he said to him. So, the soldier went to the prison and he cut off John’s head. v28 Then he brought it back on a plate and he gave it to the girl. She then gave it to her mother. v29 John’s *disciples heard the news that John was dead. So, they went to the prison and they took away his body. And then they buried it.
v30 Jesus’ *apostles then returned from their journeys. They told Jesus all about the things that they had done. And they told him about what they had taught. v31 Many people were going in and out of the house and there was no place for them all to eat. So Jesus said to the 12 *apostles, ‘Come with me to a place where we can be alone together. We can go to a quiet place and we can rest there.’
v32 So they sailed away in a boat together. They went without the crowd to a quiet place. v33 But many people saw them leave the town and they recognised them. So they ran out from all the towns. And they reached the quiet place before Jesus and the *apostles arrived. v34 Jesus climbed out of the boat when it reached the shore. And he saw the large crowd, who were waiting for him. Jesus felt sorry for them. He thought to himself, ‘They are like sheep that have nobody to keep them safe.’ So, he began to teach them many things.
v35 When it was almost evening, Jesus’ *disciples came to speak to him. ‘We are here in a place where there are no houses’, they said. ‘Soon it will be dark. v36 So, send the crowd away now. Ask them to go to the farms and villages near here. There they can buy some food for themselves to eat.’
v37 ‘You yourselves give them some food to eat’, Jesus replied. So the *disciples asked, ‘Do you want us to go and spend 200 coins to buy bread for the people?’
These coins were called denarii. People who worked received about 1 coin each day.
v38 Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.’ When they had looked, they spoke to Jesus again. ‘We have 5 loaves and 2 fish’, they said.
v39 Jesus explained to them what they should do. ‘Ask the people to sit on the green grass. They should sit in large groups.’ v40 So the people sat down. Some groups had 50 people in them. Some groups had 100 people in them. v41 Then Jesus received the 5 loaves and 2 fish from his *disciples. He looked up to the sky and he thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread back to his *disciples to give to the people. Jesus also broke the two fish into pieces for all the people. v42 Everyone ate and they all had enough to eat. v43 His *disciples then picked up all the food that the people had not eaten. And they filled 12 baskets with broken pieces of bread and fish. v44 About 5000 men ate the bread and fish that day.
Women and children also ate the bread and fish. This story is very important. People cannot make 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish feed 5000 men. Only God can do this. This showed them that Jesus was very powerful.
v45 Immediately after this, Jesus said to his *disciples, ‘Climb into the boat and go across the lake. Go on in front of me to Bethsaida, while I send the crowd away.’ v46 So he asked the crowd to go home. After they had gone, he went up on a mountain alone to pray.
v47 He was still there alone when it became dark. Now the boat was in the middle of the lake. v48 But he could see his *disciples. They were trying to cause the boat to move along. But it was very difficult for them because the wind was blowing against the boat. Then, when it was very early in the morning, Jesus walked across the water towards them. He had almost walked past them. v49 But they saw him walk on the water. ‘It is a *spirit’, they thought and they screamed out. v50 So they shouted loudly because they were afraid. But immediately, Jesus spoke to them. ‘Be brave. Do not be afraid. It is I, Jesus’, he said to them. v51 Then Jesus climbed into the boat with them. The strong wind stopped blowing. They were completely surprised about what had happened. v52 Jesus had fed the 5000 men. But his *disciples had not really understood what this had meant. And now they still did not understand who Jesus was.
v53 When they had crossed over the lake, they landed on the shore. They then tied the boat to the shore. They were in the part of the country called Gennesaret. v54 When they all climbed out of the boat, the people recognised Jesus. v55 They went to tell everyone who lived near and far away, ‘Jesus is here.’ Those who heard the news brought sick people to see him. Many were lying on flat pieces of wood. In all the different places that Jesus went to, the people always found him. v56 Jesus went into villages, large towns and small towns. Everywhere that he went, they brought sick people into their market places to him. The sick people said to Jesus, ‘Let us touch the edge of your clothes.’ Every sick person who touched his clothes became well again.
v1 One day, a group of *Pharisees and some teachers of the *Law came from Jerusalem. They wanted to talk with Jesus. v2 They had watched Jesus’ *disciples. Some of them did not wash their hands before a meal. That is, in the way that the *Pharisees taught people to wash before a meal. So the *Pharisees said that the *disciples’ hands were not clean in front of God. v3 (The *ancestors of the *Jews had given them rules about how to do everything. Unless they first washed their hands in a certain way, they must not eat. The *Pharisees and other *Jews still do this. v4 When they come from the market place they must always wash their hands. Then they can eat a meal. Their *ancestors also gave them rules about how to do other things. For example, there were rules about how they should wash cups, pots and metal jars.)
v5 The *Pharisees and the teachers of the *Law spoke to Jesus about this. ‘Why do your *disciples not obey the rules of our *ancestors?’ they asked. ‘Why do they not wash their hands in the right way before they eat? So they are not clean on the inside in front of God.’
v6 ‘You are *hypocrites’, Jesus said to the *Pharisees and the teachers of the *Law. ‘What Isaiah said about you is true. He wrote down these words from God.
“These people say good things about me,
but they do not really want to obey me.
Even while they say they love me, their words are not true.
v7 They say that I am powerful and important. But what they say has no purpose.
They teach their own rules which I did not give to them.” ’
v8 ‘You have stopped obeying God’, Jesus said to them. ‘But you still obey old rules. People made those rules long ago and they passed them on to their children.’
v9 You want to do what your *ancestors taught you to do. Then you do not have to obey God’s *laws. v10 For example, Moses wrote in his *law, “God says that you must love your father and mother. You must do good things for them and you must say only good things about them.” God also said, “Someone should kill a person who says bad things about his own father or mother.” v11 But you do not obey this. Instead, you teach people something different. You say to them that a person can say to his father or mother, “I would have given these good gifts to you, but I cannot. Instead, I have given them to God.” v12 Then, you let him give nothing to his mother and father. v13 When you let a person do this, you have not obeyed God’s *Law. You have obeyed the rules of your *ancestors. You do many other things like this.’
v14 Again Jesus asked all the people to come together near him. ‘Listen to me’, he said, ‘so that you can understand these things. v15 Each person puts food and drink into his mouth. God does not say that this causes them not to be clean inside. Nothing that goes into a person can cause him not to be clean in front of God. Instead, what comes out of his mouth is important. This can cause him not to be clean inside. v16 You can all hear me, so you must listen carefully to what I say.’
The *Jews had to obey the rules that God had given. Then God would say that they were clean inside. There were many rules about how to live. There were other rules. Those other rules taught them how to get clean inside after they had not obeyed God.
v17 After this, Jesus and his *disciples left the crowd and they went into the house. They asked Jesus to explain what he had taught the *Pharisees and teachers of the *Law.
v18 ‘You still cannot understand what I am saying’, said Jesus. ‘No food that a person eats can cause him to be not clean in front of God. v19 Food does not go into the mind of a person. First, it goes into his stomach and then it goes out of his body.’ (Jesus was saying that people could eat any kind of food. No food can cause a person not to be clean inside in front of God.)
v20 ‘But there are things that come out of a person’s mouth. And they can cause him to be not clean inside, in front of God’, Jesus said to them. v21 ‘Bad things can come from inside a person. These things come from his mind. He can think wrong thoughts. These wrong thoughts may cause him to do wrong things. He might have sex with another person’s husband or wife. He might rob or kill somebody. v22 He might want to have more things than he needs. Or he might want what other people have. He might do things that hurt other people. He might try to cause people to believe things that are not true. He might not obey any *laws. He might want to say bad things about other people. He might think that he is more important than other people. He might do silly things. v23 All these bad thoughts come from inside a person. It is these things that cause a person not to be clean in front of God.’
v24 After that, Jesus went away from Capernaum to the city called Tyre. He went to a certain house. But he did not want people to know that he was there. But it was not possible to keep this a secret. v25 Very soon, a woman heard that Jesus was in the house. She had a small daughter. A bad *spirit was living inside the girl. The woman came to see Jesus. She went down on her knees in front of him with her face on the ground. v26 She was not a *Jew and she had been born in Phoenicia in the country called Syria. ‘Please, help me’, she asked Jesus many times. ‘Please cause the bad *spirit to come out of my daughter.’
v27 Jesus said to the woman, ‘First, the children must eat all that they want. It is not right to take bread from the children. And, after that, to throw it to the *dogs so that they can eat it.’
v28 The woman replied, ‘Yes sir, that is true. But even the *dogs under the table eat the small pieces of bread that the children drop.’
v29 ‘Because you have said this’, Jesus replied, ‘you can go home. Now the bad *spirit has left your daughter.’
v30 The woman went home. She found her daughter, who was lying on her own bed. The bad *spirit had left the child.
v31 Then Jesus went away from that part of the country near Tyre. He then travelled through the city called Sidon. He went down towards Lake Galilee and the part of the country called Decapolis.
v32 Some people brought a man to meet Jesus. This man could not hear and he could not speak very well. The people said many times to Jesus, ‘Please put your hands on this man to cause him to become well.’
v33 Jesus led the man away from the crowd. And he put his finger into each of the man’s ears. Then Jesus took water from his own mouth and he touched the man’s *tongue with it. v34 Jesus looked up towards the sky. He prayed quietly and then he said to the man, ‘Ephphatha!’ This means, ‘Ears, become open!’ v35 When Jesus said this, the man started to hear. And the man’s *tongue began to move and he spoke clearly.
v36 Jesus then spoke to all the people. ‘You must not tell anybody about this’, he said. But when Jesus asked them not to tell other people anything, they spoke about things even more. v37 The people were very surprised about everything that Jesus did. ‘Jesus has done many good things’, they said. ‘Jesus causes people who cannot hear to hear again. He causes people who cannot speak to start talking.’
v1 One day, another large crowd came to hear Jesus. The people had nothing left to eat, so Jesus spoke to his *disciples. ‘Come here’, he said. v2 ‘I feel sorry for this crowd. They have been with me now for three days and they do not have any more food. v3 I do not want to send them back to their homes while they are hungry. They may fall down on their way home. Some of them have travelled a long way.’
v4 The *disciples replied, ‘We are a long way from any town. Where can we find enough bread to feed so many people?’
v5 ‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’ Jesus asked. ‘We have 7 loaves’, they replied.
v6 Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Sit down on the ground.’ Then he held the 7 loaves in his hands and he thanked God for them. He then broke the bread into pieces and he gave it to his *disciples. ‘Give this to all the people’, he said. v7 The *disciples also had a few small fish, so Jesus thanked God for these. Then he gave the fish to his *disciples and he said, ‘Also give these fish to the people.’ v8 All the people ate, and they all had enough to eat. After the people had finished eating, there were many extra broken pieces of bread and fish. Jesus’ *disciples filled 7 baskets with the broken pieces. v9 There were 4000 men in the crowd. After they had eaten, Jesus sent the people home. v10 He then climbed into the boat with his *disciples. They then all returned to the part of the country called Dalmanutha.
Dalmanutha is on the west shore of Lake Galilee. It is south of the flat part of the country called Gennesaret.
v11 Some *Pharisees came to see Jesus and they began to ask him questions. They wanted to argue with him and to cause him to say something wrong. ‘Do a powerful thing’, they said to him. ‘This will show us that God sent you.’ v12 Jesus felt very sad. ‘You people should not ask to see something powerful’, he said. ‘What I say is true. I will not do something powerful to show you that God has sent me.’ v13 Then Jesus left the *Pharisees and climbed back into the boat again with his *disciples. They sailed across to the other side of the lake.
v14 Jesus’ *disciples had forgotten to take any extra bread with them. They only had one loaf left in the boat. v15 ‘Be careful’, Jesus said to them. ‘You must watch for the *yeast of the *Pharisees and of Herod.’
People put *yeast into flour and water to make bread. The *yeast in the flour causes the bread to grow. Jesus was not talking to them about the *yeast that people use to make bread. He was talking about the things that the *Pharisees taught to the people. See the book of Matthew chapter 16, verse 12.
v16 The *disciples began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we did not bring enough bread with us’, they said.
v17 Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be talking about the fact that you did not bring enough bread with you! You still do not recognise or understand. You seem to be unable to understand. v18 You have eyes, but you cannot see. You have ears, but you cannot hear. You should remember when v19 I broke 5 loaves into pieces to give to 5000 men. How many baskets of broken pieces of bread did you fill?’
‘There were 12 baskets’, they replied.
v20 ‘And then I broke up the 7 loaves to give to the 4000 men. How many baskets of broken pieces of bread did you fill?’ Jesus asked.
‘There were 7 baskets’, they replied.
v21 ‘You ought to understand by now what this means’, he said to them.
v22 Jesus and his *disciples came to a village called Bethsaida. Some people led a *blind man towards Jesus. ‘Please touch this man’, they said to him. v23 Jesus held the *blind man’s hand and led him away from the village. Jesus put water from his own mouth on to the man’s eyes and put his hands on him. ‘Can you see anything?’ Jesus asked.
v24 The man looked round himself. ‘I can see people’, he replied. ‘But they look like trees that are walking about.’
v25 So Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked round himself again and his eyes were better. Now he could see everything very well. v26 Jesus said to the man, ‘Go home, and do not go back into the village.’
v27 Then Jesus and his *disciples went to visit some villages. They were in the part of the country called Caesarea Philippi. While they were travelling, Jesus asked them a question. ‘Tell me’, he said. ‘When people talk about me, what do they say?’
v28 ‘Some people say that you are John the *Baptist’, they replied. ‘Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are one of God’s special servants.’
This is the same report that King Herod heard in chapter 6, verses 14-15.
v29 ‘What do you think?’ Jesus asked them. ‘Who am I?’
‘You are the *Messiah whom God chose to send to us’, Peter answered him. ‘You will save the people.’ v30 Jesus then spoke with authority to his *disciples. ‘You must not tell anybody who I am’, he said.
The people were waiting for God to send someone special to them. They called this person the *Messiah. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about this person. They thought that this person would save them from the *Roman government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. So, Jesus wanted to teach the people what he, the *Messiah, had come to do.
v31 After that, Jesus began to teach his *disciples about what would happen to him. ‘People will cause the *Son of Man to have a lot of pain’, he said to them. ‘The leaders of the *Jews will be against him. The important *priests and teachers of the *Law will also not accept him. They will not believe in him. And they will say that he must die. Soldiers will kill him but, 3 days later, God will cause him to become alive again.’
Jesus had not told anyone before this time what would happen to him.
v32 What Jesus said was very clear. Then Peter led Jesus away from the other *disciples. He did not agree with what Jesus had said. He spoke strongly to him. ‘Jesus, you should not speak like that’, he said.
v33 Then Jesus turned round and he looked at his *disciples. He spoke strongly against Peter for what he had said. ‘*Satan, go away from me’, Jesus said to Peter. ‘Peter, you are speaking the words of *Satan. Your thoughts do not come from God. Instead, you are thinking like men think.’
Peter did not understand that God wanted Jesus to die for us. *Satan tried to use Peter to stop Jesus obeying God. That is why Jesus called him *Satan.
v34 Jesus then spoke to the crowd and to his *disciples. ‘Come and listen to what I tell you. Do any of you want to be my *disciples?’ he asked. ‘If you do, then you cannot think about yourself first. And you cannot think about what you want to do. You must only do what God wants you to do. You must do this every day. You must even be ready to die. Then you will be one of my *disciples. v35 If a person wants to keep himself safe then he will never have real life. But instead, he may die because he believes in me. And then he will have real life for always. v36 Think about a person who gets the whole world and everything in it. If he loses his *soul, he loses everything. That is not good at all. v37 He cannot do anything that will bring his real life back to him. v38 This is a time when people do not obey God. And they do many wrong things. And some people may be ashamed of me and of my message. Then I, the *Son of Man, will also be ashamed of anyone who is like that. This will happen when I, the *Son of Man, return. Everyone will see how great and powerful I am. They will see that I am great and beautiful like God my father. They will also see how beautiful all his *angels are.’
v1 And Jesus said to them, ‘What I am saying is true. And I will tell you something about the people who are standing here. Some of them will not die until God begins to rule his people with great power.’
v2 Six days later, Jesus asked Peter and the brothers, James and John, to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain, where they were alone together. They watched Jesus. And there, in front of them, they saw him become different. v3 His clothes became very white and shining. They were a brighter white than anyone could make them. v4 Then Peter, James and John saw two men appear in front of them. These two men were Moses and Elijah. They began to talk to Jesus.
Moses had lived a long time ago. He was a leader of God’s people. He died about 1400 years before Jesus was born. We can read about Moses in the book called Exodus.
Elijah was one of God’s special servants who spoke God’s messages to the people. He lived about 850 years before Jesus was born. He was still alive, when God took him up to live in his home. We can read about him in the book called 1 Kings.
v5 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is a good thing that we are here. Let us build 3 huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ v6 Peter did not really know what to say. That was because he and James and John were very frightened.
Peter and his friends wanted to build the huts so that these three important people could stay with them longer. God did not want them to remain on the mountain. God sent these two men to talk to Jesus about what would happen in Jerusalem. Jesus would die on a *cross to save all people. We read about this in Luke 9:31.
v7 Then a cloud appeared and it covered them all. A person spoke from the cloud. He said, ‘This is my son, and I love him. You must listen to him.’
v8 Then suddenly, when Peter, James and John looked round, they could not see anyone else with them. Only Jesus was there.
v9 While they were walking down the mountain again, Jesus said to Peter, James and John, ‘You must not tell anyone about what you have just seen. One day, the *Son of Man will die and then become alive again. Then you can tell people about what you have seen today.’ v10 Peter, James and John did not tell anybody what had happened on the mountain. But they started to talk together about what Jesus had said to them. He had said, ‘The *Son of Man will die and then become alive again.’ And they did not understand what he meant.
v11 Then Peter, James and John asked Jesus a question. ‘The teachers of the *Law say, “Elijah will return to earth first before anything else happens.” Why do they say this?’
v12 ‘It is true that Elijah does come back to earth first’, Jesus replied. ‘He prepares everything. But God’s special servants also wrote, “People will not accept the *Son of Man. They will hurt and kill him.” I will tell you why they wrote this. v13 But I tell you that Elijah has already come back to earth. Certain people also refused him and hurt him. These people did everything to him that they wanted to do. God’s special *messengers wrote about the things that would happen to Elijah.’
When Jesus talked to them about Elijah, he was really talking about John the *Baptist.
v14 Jesus, Peter, James and John reached the place where the other *disciples were. Jesus saw that there was a large crowd round the *disciples. Some teachers of the *Law were arguing with them. v15 When the people in the crowd saw Jesus, they were very surprised and happy. And they ran to meet him.
v16 But Jesus asked his *disciples, ‘What were you arguing about with the teachers of the *Law?’
v17 A man in the crowd answered. ‘Teacher, I have brought my son to you. A bad *spirit is living inside him. It stops him from speaking. v18 When the bad *spirit takes hold of him, it throws him on to the ground. Water comes out of his mouth and he bites his teeth together. His body becomes straight and it does not bend. I asked your *disciples to help us. “Send the *spirit out of my son”, I said. But they could not do it.’
v19 ‘You people today still do not believe in me’, Jesus said. ‘I have lived here among you for a long time, but it is not yet long enough for you to believe.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring your son here to me.’
v20 So the people brought the boy to Jesus. When the *spirit saw Jesus, it pulled the boy first one way, and then the other way. The boy fell on to the ground and he rolled about. Water was coming from his mouth.
v21 ‘How long has he been like this?’ Jesus asked the boy’s father.
‘He has been like this since he was a small boy’, he replied. v22 ‘Often the *spirit has caused him to fall into the fire or into water. It tries to kill him. If you can do anything, be sorry for us. And help us!’
v23 ‘You should not say to me, “If you can do anything” ’, Jesus said. ‘Everything is possible for those people who believe in me.’
v24 The boy’s father immediately shouted out to Jesus, ‘I do believe in you. Please help me to believe more in you.’
v25 Jesus saw that the crowd was coming. The people wanted to see what was happening. Jesus spoke strongly to the bad *spirit that was in the boy. ‘This boy cannot hear or speak because of you. You must come out of him. And you must never go into him again.’
v26 The *spirit screamed. It pulled the boy a lot, first one way and then the other way. Then it came out of him. The boy lay very still. He was like a dead person, and many people said, ‘He is dead.’ v27 But Jesus held the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up. Then the boy stood up by himself.
v28 After this, Jesus and his 12 *disciples went into a house. When they were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not cause the bad *spirit to leave the boy?’
v29 ‘You can only cause this kind of *spirit to leave a person’, said Jesus, ‘after you pray.’
The 12 *disciples had forgotten that God caused them to be powerful. They must always ask God for his help first.
v30 Jesus and his *disciples left that place. They went through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was. v31 He wanted to be alone with his *disciples, so that he could teach them. ‘Soon, someone will give the *Son of Man to powerful men’, Jesus said. ‘And they will kill him. But he will become alive again three days later.’ v32 The *disciples did not understand what he meant. And they were afraid to ask him.
v33 Jesus and his 12 *disciples arrived at Capernaum, and they went into the house.
This was Peter and Andrew’s house. Jesus lived there when he was in Galilee.
‘What were you arguing about while we were walking here?’ Jesus asked them. v34 They were arguing about which of them was the most important. So they did not want to answer Jesus’ question.
v35 Jesus sat down. He said to the 12 *disciples, ‘Come near to me. Listen to what I say. The person who wants to be the most important must put himself in the least important place. And the most important person must be a servant to everybody.’
v36 Then he said to a little child who was near, ‘Come here! Stand in front of everyone.’ Then Jesus held the little child in his arms and he said to his *disciples, v37 ‘If someone accepts this child because of me, then he accepts me. If he accepts me, then he is not only accepting me. He is also accepting the person who sent me.’
People thought that a child was not important. Jesus loved children. And he showed his followers that a child is important to God. We should also love people who do not seem important. Then God will say that we are important. The person who sent Jesus is God.
v38 ‘Teacher’, John said to Jesus, ‘we saw a man. He was causing bad *spirits to come out of people. And he was using your authority to do it. He is not in our group, so we asked him to stop.’
v39 ‘Do not try to stop him’, Jesus said. ‘Someone who uses my authority believes in me. He will not start to say anything bad about me. v40 If someone is not against us, then he is helping us. v41 What I say is true. Somebody may give you a cup of water because you are one of my *disciples. God will not forget it, but will give him good things.
v42 Perhaps someone will cause a little person to stop believing in me. It would be better for this person if people hung a big stone round his neck. Then they could throw that bad person into the deep sea together with the stone.
The little person could be someone who does not believe in God strongly. Or he may be a child. It would be better to die than to cause someone to stop obeying God.
v43-44 If your hand causes you do wrong things, you should cut it off. And you should throw it away. It is better to have only one hand and to go to real life in God’s home. It is much worse to keep both hands and to do wrong things. Then God will throw you into *hell. There the fire does not go out. v45-46 If your foot causes you do wrong things, you should cut it off. And you should throw it away. It is better to have only one foot and to go to real life in God’s home. It is much worse to keep both feet and to do wrong things. Then God will throw you into *hell. There the fire does not go out. v47 If your eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one eye and to go to where God rules. It is much worse if God throws you with your two eyes into *hell.
v48 In *hell the *worms do not die,
and the fire never goes out.’
Isaiah wrote these words. We can read them in Isaiah 66:24. These *worms live on dead bodies.
Jesus does not want his *disciples to cut their bodies. It is very important for them not to do wrong things. And Jesus is telling them this.
v49 ‘God will put fire on everybody in the same way that people put salt on food.
v50 Good salt is valuable. If salt is not good salt any longer, you cannot use it for anything. You cannot cause it to be like good salt again. Be like good salt and love each other. Do not have troubles between each other.’
v1 Jesus then left Capernaum and he went to Judea. He also went to some places on the other side of the river Jordan. Large crowds came again to see him. So he taught them in the same way as he had done before.
v2 Some *Pharisees came to talk to Jesus. They tried to cause Jesus to give the wrong answers to their questions. ‘Tell us’, they asked. ‘Can a man send his wife away, so that she is no longer his wife? Does the *Law let him do this?’
v3 Jesus answered them with a question. ‘What *laws did Moses write about this for you?’
God told Moses the *Law many years before and Moses wrote it down. The *Pharisees knew what he had written. They wanted Jesus to give the wrong answer.
v4 Then the *Pharisees answered Jesus. ‘Moses said that a man could give his wife a paper. The paper shows that the man and the woman are now separate. Then the man can send the woman away.’
v5 ‘Moses said this because people did not want to obey God’, Jesus said to them. ‘You also do not want to obey him. v6 Things were different at the start of the world. God made a man and he also made a woman.’ This is what his book says:
v7 ‘This is the reason that a man leaves his father and his mother. Then God joins him and his wife together. v8 The man and the woman become like one person. They are not two separate people any longer. They are like one person. v9 Nobody must make them separate. God has joined them together to be husband and wife.’
Jesus was telling them about things that are in the book called Genesis. We can read about them in Genesis 2:24.
v10 Then Jesus and his *disciples went back to the house. And they asked Jesus again about all these things. v11 So Jesus explained it to them. ‘When a man sends his wife away, he gives her a paper. The paper shows that they are separate. He then marries another woman. When he has sex with the second woman, this is against God’s *Law. v12 In the same way, a woman leaves her husband and she marries another man. When she has sex with the second man, this is also against God’s *Law.’
v13 Then some people brought their children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on the children’s heads. They wanted him to pray for their children. But the *disciples did not like this and they asked them to take their children away. v14 But when Jesus saw this, he was angry. ‘Do not stop the children’, Jesus said them. ‘Let them come to me. People who are like these children can ask God to rule their lives. v15 What I say is true. A person must let God rule in his life, like a child obeys him. If he does not let God rule, then God will not come into his life.’ v16 Jesus took the children in his arms. Then he put his hands on each of them and he prayed for them.
v17 While Jesus went on his way, a man ran to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Good Teacher’, he said to Jesus, ‘what must I do so that I can live for always?’
v18 ‘Why do you say that I am good?’ Jesus asked. ‘Only God is good. v19 And you know the *Laws of God.
“Do not kill anyone.
Do not have sex with a woman who is not your wife.
Do not rob anyone.
Always say true things about people.
Do not take things that are not yours from people.
Love your father and your mother.” ’
v20 ‘Teacher’, the man replied, ‘I have done all these things since I was a young boy.’
v21 Jesus looked at the young man. He liked him and he wanted to help him. ‘There is still something else that you must do’, he said to him. ‘You must sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. Then you will have valuable things in God’s home. Come back to see me when you have done this. And then you can be my *disciple.’
v22 When the young man heard this, he was not happy. Because he was a very rich man, he went away sadly. He did not want to give his money away.
v23 Jesus looked round at his *disciples. ‘Believe me! It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule their lives’, he said to them.
v24 They were very surprised about what he said. Then Jesus spoke again. ‘Children, it is very difficult to let God rule your lives. v25 It is very difficult for a big animal to go through the hole in a *needle. But it is much more difficult than this for a rich man to let God rule his life.’
v26 When his *disciples heard Jesus, they were even more surprised. And they asked each other, ‘Who then can God save?’
v27 Jesus looked at them and replied, ‘Men cannot save themselves. But God can do it. God can do everything.’
v28 ‘Listen!’ Peter said to Jesus. ‘We have left everything that we had. And now we are your *disciples.’
v29 ‘Yes’, said Jesus. ‘What I say is true. Some people may leave their house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields. They leave them to go and tell other people the good news about me. v30 Those people will receive 100 times more than they already have in the world. That is, they will receive many homes, many brothers and sisters, many mothers and children and fields. People will also hurt them because they are obeying God. But after they die, they will live with God for always. v31 But many people who are very important now will become the least important. Many who are now the least important will become very important.’
v32 Jesus and his *disciples were walking along the road towards Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in front of them all, and the *disciples were very surprised. The people who were following along behind them were afraid. Jesus then led his 12 *disciples away from the other people. And he began to tell them again what people would do to him. v33 ‘Listen’, he said to them, ‘we are going to Jerusalem. When we arrive there, someone will help people to take hold of me, the *Son of Man. And they will take me to the leaders of the *priests and the teachers of the *Law. These men will say, “You must die.” These *Jews will take me to those who are not *Jews. v34 And these men will *laugh at me. They will *spit on me and they will hit me with sticks. Then they will kill me. After 3 days, I will come back alive from among dead people.’
v35 James and John, who were Zebedee’s sons, came to speak to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, they said, ‘we want to ask you to do something for us.’
v36 ‘What do you want me to do?’ Jesus asked them.
v37 ‘One day you will sit as king and you will rule your people. We want to sit with you when everyone can see how beautiful and powerful you are. We want you to let one of us sit at your right side. And we want the other one to sit at your left side.’
v38 ‘You do not understand what you are asking for’, he said to them. ‘I am going to *suffer very great pain. Can you *suffer in the same way? Will you let people kill you in the same way that they will kill me?’
v39 ‘Yes, we can do all this’, said James and John. v40 Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will *suffer much pain like I will. They will also kill you, as they will kill me. But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. God has chosen who will sit there. He has prepared the places for them.’
v41 When the other 10 *disciples heard about this, they were angry with the two brothers. v42 But Jesus asked all the 12 men to come near him. ‘You have seen those who are not *Jews rule people. You know what happens’, Jesus said. ‘They have great power over the people. Their leaders have great authority over them. v43 I do not want you to be like that. The person who wants to be important among you must be your servant. v44 A person who wants to be the most important must be like the least important servant to everyone. v45 I, the *Son of Man, came to earth to be a servant to other people. I did not come here to have servants who are working for me. I came to die so that many people can be free.’
v46 Then Jesus and his *disciples arrived in Jericho. When they were all leaving the city again, a large crowd followed them. A *blind man called Bartimaeus was sitting by the side of the road. He was asking people to give him money. He was the son of Timaeus.
Bartimaeus could not work because he was *blind. This means that he could not see. So he asked people to give him money to buy food.
v47 Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking past him. So he shouted, ‘Jesus, you are the *Messiah, the Son of David. Please be kind to me!’
v48 Many people in the crowd were angry with Bartimaeus. They said to him, ‘Stop making a noise!’ But he did not stop. He shouted out even louder than before, ‘Jesus, Son of David, please be kind to me!’
v49 Jesus stopped walking and he said to the people, ‘Ask the man to come here to me.’ So the people said to him, ‘Bartimaeus, be brave. Stand up. Jesus is asking you to go to him.’ v50 So Bartimaeus took off his coat and he threw it down. He stood up quickly and he went to Jesus.
v51 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked Bartimaeus.
‘I want to see again’, he replied.
v52 ‘Go now’, Jesus said to him. ‘You believed in me. So I have caused your eyes to become well again.’ Immediately, Bartimaeus could see and he followed Jesus along the road.
‘Son of David’ is a name for the special person whom God sent to save the people. It is another name for Jesus.
v1 Jesus and his *disciples were coming near to Jerusalem. They came first to the villages called Bethphage and Bethany. They were on the hill called the *Mount of Olives.
Bethphage and Bethany were on the east side of the hill called the *Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is on the east side of Jerusalem. It is called this because many olive trees grow on it. An olive is a small fruit.
v2 ‘Go to the village that is in front of you’, Jesus said to two of his *disciples. ‘When you arrive at the village, you will quickly find a young *donkey. Someone has tied it there with a *rope. Nobody has ever yet ridden on it. Undo the *rope and bring the *donkey here to me. v3 Someone may ask you, “Why are you taking the *donkey?” Say to him, “The Master needs it. He will send it back to you soon.” ’
A *donkey is like a small horse.
v4 Then the two *disciples went into the village. They found the young *donkey in the street. Someone had tied it at the door of a house. v5 Some people were standing near the house. When the two *disciples undid the *rope, the people spoke to them. ‘What are you doing? Why are you taking the *donkey?’ v6 The *disciples answered them. They repeated what Jesus had asked them to say. The people then let them take the *donkey away. v7 The two *disciples brought the young *donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on the back of the animal. Then Jesus climbed up and sat on it. v8 Many people put their coats down on to the road. Other people cut down branches from the trees in the fields. And they put these branches down on to the road.
The people did this so that the *donkey would walk on the coats and branches. People did this if they wanted to receive someone important.
v9 Many people went in front of Jesus, and other people followed him. All of them were shouting,
‘Welcome! We pray that God will be good to you!
Happy is the King who comes with the *Lord God’s authority!
v10 We want you to rule as king like our *ancestor King David ruled!
God will cause us to be happy when you rule as king!
Welcome! God is very great and powerful and important!’
v11 Jesus arrived at Jerusalem and he went into the city. He went to *God’s Great House and he looked at everything there. It was late in the day, so he went out of the city to Bethany. And he stayed there with the 12 *disciples
v12 On the next day, they all came back from Bethany to Jerusalem. On the way, Jesus was hungry. v13 He saw a *fig tree far in front of them. There were leaves on it. He walked up to the tree to see if it had fruit on it. When he came near to it, he found no fruit. There were only leaves on it, because it was not the right time of year for fruit. v14 Jesus said to the tree, ‘Nobody will ever eat fruit from you again.’ His *disciples heard what he said to the tree.
v15 When they all arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the yard outside *God’s Great House. People were buying and selling things there. He caused them all to leave. He pushed over the tables of the men who bought and sold money. And he pushed over the seats of the men who sold birds.
*God’s Great House in Jerusalem had a wall round it. People went through a door in the wall into the yard. They could buy money and animals in the yard. People had to use special money to buy the birds and animals that they gave to God. Only the *priests went inside the Great House.
v16 Jesus would not let anyone carry things through the yard inside the wall round *God’s Great House. v17 He began to teach the people. Jesus said, ‘The special servants of God wrote down what God said about this place.
“My house will be a place where people from all countries can come to pray.”
But you have caused it to be a place where some people rob other people.’
v18 The important *priests and the teachers of the *Law heard the things that Jesus was saying. They did not like what he said. So they began to think about how they could kill him. But the whole crowd wanted to hear everything that he said. So they were afraid of him.
v19 When the evening came, Jesus and his *disciples went out of Jerusalem again.
v20 The next morning, Jesus and his *disciples walked back to Jerusalem again. They saw that the *fig tree was completely dead. v21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said the day before. ‘Teacher’, he said to Jesus, ‘Look at that tree. You said that it should die. And it has died.’
v22 ‘Believe in God’, said Jesus. v23 ‘What I say is true. You could also say to this mountain, “Stand up and throw yourself into the sea.” And this will happen if you really believe it. God will do it for you. v24 When you pray to God, you ask him for something. Believe that you have received it. And then you will have it. v25 When you are praying, ask yourself, “Am I still angry with anyone who has done bad things to me?” If you are, you must *forgive them. Then your Father above will *forgive you for the bad things that you have done. v26 If you do not *forgive other people, your Father above will not *forgive you.’
v27 Jesus and his *disciples arrived again in Jerusalem. Jesus was walking again in the yard outside *God’s Great House. The leaders of the *priests, the teachers of the *Law and the important *Jews came to meet Jesus. v28 ‘What authority do you have to do these things?’ they asked him. ‘Tell us. Who gave you the authority to do them?’
v29 ‘I also will ask you one question’, Jesus replied. ‘If you give me an answer, then I will answer your question. And I will tell you where my authority comes from. v30 John had authority to *baptise people. Did this authority come from God or not? Did it come from men? Tell me the answer.’
v31 Then all the *Jewish leaders talked to each other about Jesus’ question. They said, ‘We could say that God gave John his authority. But then Jesus would say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” v32 We could say that God did not give John authority. A man gave it to him. But the people all think that John was God’s special servant.’ The *Jewish leaders did not want to answer, because they were afraid of the people.
v33 So the *Jewish leaders answered Jesus, ‘We do not know who gave John his authority.’
So Jesus said to them, ‘Then I will not tell you who gave me authority to do these things.’
v1 Then Jesus spoke to the important *Jews again. He told them a story. ‘There was a man who had his own farm. He planted *vines in his field and then he built a wall round it. He dug a hole in the ground to put the *grapes in. Later, he would make them into *wine. He also made a tall building. From the top of the building, a servant would watch his fields carefully.
From a tall building, someone could watch for any birds or bad people who were coming to the farm.
The man then found some farmers who would work for him. He then went away to another country. v2 When it was time for the farmers to cut the *grapes, the master sent his servant to them. The servant said to the farmers, “Please give me the fruit from the field for my master.” v3 But the farmers took hold of the servant and they hit him with sticks. They did not give him any fruit, and then they sent him away. v4 So the master sent another servant to the farmers. They hit this servant on the head and they did other bad things to him. v5 The master then sent another servant, but the farmers killed this servant. He sent many other servants to the field. And the farmers hit some of them with sticks and they killed some of them.
v6 The master had only one person left whom he could send to the field. This was his own son, and the man loved him very much. So, last of all, he sent his son to the field. The master thought to himself, “The farmers will be kind to my son.”
v7 The farmers saw the master’s son. “This is the master’s own son”, they said to each other. “When our master dies, this son will have the field. So, let us kill the master’s son and then the field will be ours.” v8 The farmers took hold of the son and they killed him. Then they threw his dead body out of the field.’
v9 ‘I will tell you what the master of the field will do to those farmers’, said Jesus. ‘He will come and he will kill them. He will then let other farmers work in his field. v10 I am sure that you have read this. God’s special servants wrote it down.
“The people who built the house did not want to use one special stone.
They thought that it had no value.
Now that stone is the most important stone.
It causes the corner of the wall to be strong.
v11 The *Lord God did this.
And we can see that he did something great.” ’
Jesus is this special stone. The *Jewish leaders were the people who did not want to use it.
v12 The leaders of the *priests, the teachers of the *Law and the important *Jews heard the picture story. And they understood that Jesus was saying things against them in the story. So they wanted to take hold of him. But they were afraid of the people. So, they left him and they went away.
v13 Then the important *Jews sent some *Pharisees to meet Jesus. They also sent some men who were in King Herod’s group. They wanted to ask questions to cause Jesus to say something wrong. v14 These men came up to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, they said, ‘we know that you only say true things. It does not matter to you what other people think. It does not matter to you if someone is an important person or not. You really do tell us what God wants us to do. Here is a question for you, Jesus. Should we pay our money to *Caesar, the *Roman ruler, or should we not? Is it against our *law to pay it?’
v15 Jesus knew that the *Pharisees were *hypocrites. So he said, ‘You are trying to cause me to say something wrong! Bring me a *Roman coin and let me look at it!’ v16 Then they brought a coin to Jesus. He looked at it and he asked them, ‘Whose picture is on the coin? Whose name is on the coin?’
They replied, ‘It is *Caesar’s picture, and *Caesar’s name.’
v17 So Jesus said to them, ‘Then give to *Caesar the things that are his. And give to God the things that are God’s.’
They were very surprised about how Jesus had answered the question.
v18 On that day, some *Sadducees also came to see Jesus. These men did not believe that anyone could become alive again after death. They spoke to Jesus about this.
The *Sadducees were a group of *Jewish leaders. They did not believe that people’s *spirits continued to live after death. They taught that death was the end.
v19 ‘Teacher’, they said to Jesus, ‘Moses wrote these things for us in the *Law. A woman marries a man. But the man dies before the woman has any children. That man’s brother must then marry her. They can have children for the man who died. If they have children, the children will be called the children of the first husband. v20 At one time, there were seven men, and they were brothers. One of these brothers married a woman. Then he died before the woman had any children. v21 Another of these brothers then married this woman, and then he also died. So a third brother married this woman. v22 And the same thing happened to all seven brothers. They all died before the woman had any children. After this, the woman also died. v23 Now some people say that one day, dead people will live again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’
v24 ‘You are very wrong’, Jesus said to the *Sadducees. ‘You do not know the meaning of the words in God’s book. You do not know how powerful God is. v25 One day, people who have died will become alive again. But then men and women will not marry. Men will not have wives and women will not have husbands. They will be like the *angels above. They do not marry. v26 I will now talk to you about dead people when they are alive again. Moses explained this clearly to us. He wrote about the bush that he saw. The bush was burning. On that day, God said to him, “I am Abraham’s God. I am the God of Isaac and of Jacob.” v27 God was saying that these men are still alive. They are still his people. God is not a God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive.’
We can read this story in Exodus, chapter 3.
v28 One of the teachers of the *Jewish *Law was near. And he heard the *Sadducees talk to Jesus. He understood that Jesus had answered them well. He then asked Jesus a question. ‘Which of our *laws is the most important law for us to obey?’
v29 ‘This *law is the most important’, replied Jesus. ‘Listen, people of *Israel. The *Lord, our God, is the only *Lord. And you must love the *Lord, your God. v30 Show that you love God completely by the way that you live. Show it in all that you want. Show it in all that you feel. Show it in all that you think. Show it in all that you do. v31 The second most important *law is this: You must love other people as much as you love yourself. No other *laws are as important as these two.’
v32 The teacher of the *Law said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, you answered well. You are right to say that the *Lord is the only God. And there are no other gods. v33 And we must show that we love God. We must show it by the way that we think. We must show it by what we do. We must also love other people as much as we love ourselves. When we do this God is pleased. It is more important than to give many gifts and burnt animals to God. You are right.’
v34 Jesus thought that the teacher of the *Law had answered well. So he said to him, ‘You are very near to asking God to rule your life.’ After that, everybody was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.
v35 Jesus was teaching the people in the yard outside *God’s Great House. He said, ‘The teachers of the *Law talk about the *Messiah. And they say that he is King David’s son. They are wrong to say that he is only a man. v36 David himself wrote about this in the book called *Psalms. The *Holy Spirit taught King David to say,
“The *Lord said to my *Lord:
Sit at my right side at the important place.
Remain there while I destroy your enemies.
I will put them, as it were, under your feet.” ’
v37 ‘So’, continued Jesus, ‘we know that David calls this special person “*Lord.” So he cannot only be a man from the family of King David.’
The crowd liked to listen to Jesus while he taught them.
*Psalms are songs that people sing to God. We can read them in the book called *Psalms in the Bible. The *Messiah was a special person that the *Jews were waiting for. They believed that God would send him to help them.
Jesus is explaining a very important thing to the teachers of the *Law. Jesus is a man but he is also God. In verse 36, the first time that David says ‘*Lord’ he is talking about God. The second time that he says ‘*Lord’ he is talking about Jesus, the *Messiah.
v38 ‘You should be careful. You must not do the same things as the teachers of the *Law’, he said to them. ‘They want people to think that they are important. For this reason they like to wear long clothes. They like people to speak to them in the market place, in the way that people speak to an important person. v39 Also, they like to have the best seat in the *Jewish meeting places. They like to sit in the most important places at special meals. v40 They take things away from some women after their husbands have died. Then they pray for a long time in a place where people can see them. They want other people to think that they are good. God will certainly cause pain to people who do these things.’
v41 Jesus sat down near the place where people brought money for *God’s Great House. He watched all the people while they put their money into the box. He saw many rich people put a lot of money into the box. v42 But then he saw a woman. Her husband had died and she was very poor. She put in two coins of very small value.
v43 Jesus asked his *disciples to come near to him. ‘Listen to what I tell you’, he said to them. ‘This woman is very poor, but she has put more money into the box than all the other people. v44 Rich people only put a part of their money into the box. They still have some to buy food. This woman put in all the money that she had. She has put in the money that she needed to buy food for herself. So I say that she put in more than the other people.’
v1 Jesus and his *disciples then left *God’s Great House. While they were leaving, one of his *disciples said, ‘Teacher, look at the beautiful stones that are in the walls of God’s House. The buildings are very great!’
v2 Jesus replied, ‘Yes, you can see all these beautiful buildings now. But the day is coming when enemies will completely destroy them. They will not leave one stone on top of another stone. They will throw every stone down from the buildings.’
Jesus is talking about the time when the *Romans would destroy Jerusalem in the year *AD 70.
v3 Jesus was sitting on the hill called the *Mount of Olives. He could look across at *God’s Great House. Peter, James, John and Andrew went together to talk with him. The crowd was not there. v4 ‘Please tell us when this will happen’, they said. ‘What will we see just before your words become true?’
v5 Jesus answered them, ‘Watch yourselves carefully! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe those people. v6 Many men will come and say, “I am the special person whom God sent to save you. I have returned.” Many people will believe them, but you must not believe them. v7 You will hear the noise of people who are fighting near you. You will hear about wars in places that are far away. Do not be afraid. These things must happen first, but it is not yet the end of everything. v8 People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their people will fight against other kings and their people. The ground will move in many different places. Some people will not have any food to eat because the plants for food will not grow. These things are like the pains that start before a baby is born. These things will start to happen. And then everything that I said will soon happen.
v9 So, watch yourselves carefully! People will take hold of you and they will bring you to their rulers. In the *Jewish meeting places, people will hit you with sticks because you believe in me. People will bring you to stand in front of kings and rulers. You will tell these important people the good news about me, but they will *punish you. v10 You must tell the good news about me to people in every country before the end comes. v11 People will take hold of you, and then they will bring you in front of important people. When you stand in front of them, do not have troubles in your mind. Do not think about what you should say. You should say the words that come into your mind at that moment. These are not your own words. The *Holy Spirit will tell you what to say.
v12 Men will take their own brothers to stand in front of these important people. And they will say, “Kill him, because he believes in Jesus.” Fathers will take their own children to the rulers and say, “Kill them. They believe in Jesus.” Children will be angry with their parents and they will say to the rulers, “Kill my parents!” v13 Because you believe in me, nobody will like you. But you must never stop believing in me. And you must never stop obeying me. Then God will save you in the end.
v14 One day, you will see a very bad thing. It will stand where it should not be. (When you read this, you must understand it.) When you see this thing, people in Judea must run to the hills to hide.
Jesus was talking about something that people would make. They would not pray to God but they would pray to it instead.
v15 A person who is on the roof of his house must not go down into his house. He must not find anything from his home to take with him.
In those days, people often sat on the roof of their house after they had finished their work. The roof was flat, and it was cool there. People told each other news across the roofs. There were steps from the house up on to the roof.
v16 People who are outside the city in their fields must not go back home. They must not go to find their coats. v17 Those days will be bad for women who have a baby inside them! And those days will be bad for those women who have little babies! v18 You must pray to God and say, “Please do not let these things happen in winter.” v19 People in every country will have great troubles. Nothing as bad as this has ever yet happened since God made the world. Nothing as bad as this will ever happen again after this. v20 The *Lord God will cause this time of great trouble to be shorter. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. God will cause this time of trouble to be shorter to help the people whom he has chosen. v21 Someone may say to you, “Look, here is the *Messiah.” Or they may say, “Look, there is the *Messiah.” When they say this, do not believe them. v22 Some people will say to you, “I am the *Messiah. God has sent me.” Other people will come and they will say, “I am a special *messenger from God.” None of the things that these people say is true. They will do powerful things. They will do things that people cannot usually do. They will do all this to cause people to believe that their words are true. They will even try to cause the people that God has chosen to believe in them. God will not let them. v23 So watch yourselves carefully! Do not believe things that are not true. I have told you about all these things before they happen.
v24 Then, after all these bad things have happened,
the sun will become dark.
The moon will stop shining.
v25 Stars will fall down out of the sky.
And God will cause all the powerful things in the sky to move from their usual places.
v26 Then people will see me, the *Son of Man. I will be coming down in the clouds. I will be very powerful. I will be great and I will look very beautiful. v27 I will send out God’s *angels in every direction. They will bring together all the people whom God has chosen from every part of the world.
v28 I will tell you a story about a *fig tree. You can learn something from what the tree does. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer is coming soon. v29 In the same way, you will see all these things start to happen. And then you will know that the *Son of Man will come soon. I will be like someone at the door who is ready to come in. v30 What I say to you is true. Not all of the people alive now will die before these things have happened. v31 One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But my words will always be powerful. What I have said will certainly happen.
v32 Nobody knows the day or the time when all these things will happen. Even the *angels who are in God’s home do not know. Even I, God’s son, do not know. Only God the Father knows when they will happen. v33 Watch carefully! You do not know when all these things will happen. So remain ready. v34 I will tell you a story. Then you will know what it will be like. The master of a house travels far away. Before he leaves, he tells his servants to do the work in his house. He gives each servant different work to do. He tells one servant at the door to be ready for his return.
v35 You do not know when the master of the house will return. So remain ready and watch carefully. He could arrive in the evening, or in the middle of the night. Or he could arrive early in the morning, or just before the sun rises. v36 He may come suddenly and find you asleep. v37 I am saying this to you. And I am also saying this to everyone else. Stay ready!’
v1 It was now two days before the *Passover. At the Passover, the *Jews ate special bread that they made without *yeast. The important *priests and the teachers of the *Law talked about the best way to take hold of Jesus. But they did not want other people to know that they wanted to kill him. v2 ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the *Passover’, they said to each other. ‘The people will be angry. And they may fight against us if we do that.’
v3 While Jesus was in Bethany, he went to Simon’s house. At one time, Simon had had *leprosy. While Jesus was eating a meal, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar with her. The jar contained expensive oil. People had made the oil from material called nard, and it had a beautiful smell. The woman broke the jar to open it. And then she poured the oil over Jesus’ head.
We believe that one day Jesus had caused Simon to become well again. Now Simon was living in his home again in Bethany.
Nard is a kind of oil. People make it from a plant. The plant grows in the country called India. People kept the oil in a special stone jar. The woman had to break the jar to pour out the oil.
v4 Some of the people who were in the house were angry. ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil’, they said to each other. v5 ‘She could have sold it for 300 coins. Then, we could have given the money to poor people.’ So, they were very angry with the woman.
v6 ‘Do not be angry with her’, Jesus said to them. ‘Stop speaking to her like that. She has done a good and beautiful thing for me. v7 You will always have poor people with you. You can help them at any time that you want to. But I will not always be with you. v8 She did what she could for me. She poured oil over my body to prepare it. So now my body is ready for people to bury me. v9 What I say to you is true. Everywhere, people will tell other people the good news about God ruling as king. At the same time, they will also tell other people about what this woman did. Then other people will think about her because of what she did.’
v10 Then Judas Iscariot went away to see the important *priests. He went to talk about a way for them to catch Jesus. Judas was one of the 12 men who always went with Jesus. v11 The important *priests were very happy to hear what Judas said to them. And they promised to give him money because he was helping them. Judas then watched for the right moment for him to help them to take hold of Jesus.
v12 It was now the first day of the week of the *Passover. On this day, people ate bread that they had made without *yeast in it. And on this day, each family must kill a young sheep for the *Passover meal. Jesus’ *disciples asked him, ‘We should prepare the *Passover meal for you to eat. Where do you want us to go and do that?’
v13 So Jesus explained to two of them what they should do. ‘Go into the city’, he said to them. ‘When you arrive there, a man will meet you. He will be carrying a jar of water. v14 He will go to a house and you should follow him there. You must say to the master of that house, “The Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the *Passover meal there with my *disciples.’ ” v15 Then the man will show you a large room upstairs. The room will have in it all the things that you will need. This is the place where you will prepare the *Passover meal for us all.’
v16 Then the two *disciples left and they went to the city. They found everything that Jesus had told them about. So, they prepared the *Passover meal there.
Luke tells us that Jesus asked Peter and John to prepare the meal.
v17 When it was evening, Jesus arrived with his 12 *disciples. v18 When they were eating the meal, Jesus said to them, ‘What I say is true. One of you who is eating this meal with me will help the *Jewish rulers to take hold of me.’
v19 The 12 men were very sad about what Jesus had said. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Sir, I am sure that you do not mean me.’
v20 ‘It is one of you 12 men. It is one of you who is putting the end of his bread into the same dish as me’, Jesus said.
There was a dish on the table with wet food in it. They all put the end of their bread into this dish and they ate the wet food with the bread.
v21 ‘God said how I, the *Son of Man, would die. And I will die in that way. His special servants wrote about it before it happens. But trouble will happen to the man who helps the rulers to take hold of me. It would have been a better thing for that man if he had never been born.’
v22 While Jesus and his *disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread into pieces and he gave the pieces to each of them. ‘Take this bread and eat it’, he said to them. ‘This bread is like my body.’
v23 Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the *wine in the cup. Then he gave it to them and each man drank from the cup.
v24 ‘The *wine that you drink out of the cup is like my blood’, he said to them. ‘It shows that there is a new promise between God and his people. When I die, my blood will come out. This will happen so that God can save many people. v25 What I say is true. I will not drink *wine again until God begins to rule his people.’
v26 Then Jesus and those who had eaten together sang a song to God. Then they all went out to the hill that people call the *Mount of Olives.
Judas was no longer with the other *disciples. He had left earlier before they had eaten the bread.
v27 Then Jesus said to the 11 *disciples, ‘You will all leave me and you will run away. The special servants from God wrote this message down,
“God will kill the *shepherd.
Then all the sheep that he had will run away to different places.”
We can read this in the book that Zechariah wrote, chapter 13, verse 7.
v28 But after I die, God will cause me to become alive again. Then I will go before you to Galilee.’
v29 ‘Even if everyone else runs away’, Peter said, ‘I will not leave you.’
v30 ‘What I say is true’, Jesus replied to Peter. ‘Tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the *cock makes its noise for the second time in the morning.’
v31 But Peter answered Jesus strongly, ‘I will never tell anyone that I do not know you. Even if that means that I must die with you.’ All the other *disciples said the same thing as Peter.
v32 Then they arrived at a large garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to his *disciples who were with him, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ v33 Jesus then asked Peter, James and John to go with him. He became very sad and he had many troubles in his mind. v34 ‘I am very sad. I could die because I feel so sad. Please wait here and stay awake with me’, Jesus said to them.
v35 Jesus went a short way in front of them. He went down on his knees with his face on the ground. He asked God, ‘Father, if it is possible, please save me from this time of great pain. v36 My Father, if you want, you can take away this pain from me. That is what I want. But I do not ask you to do what I want. I want to obey you.’
v37 Jesus returned and he found Peter, James and John. They were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘Simon, you are asleep! You could not stay awake with me for even one hour! v38 You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do the wrong thing. You really want to do the right thing, but it is too difficult for you.’
v39 Jesus went away once more and he prayed again. He said the same words to God. v40 Jesus returned again to Peter, James and John. He saw that they were sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.
v41 Jesus went away again and he prayed a third time. When he returned to them, he said, ‘You should not be sleeping and resting. You have slept enough. The time has come for me to have much pain. Look! Someone will now help bad men to take hold of the *Son of Man. v42 Stand up now, because it is time to meet them. Look! Here is the man who will help them to take hold of me.’
v43 Jesus was still speaking when Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus’ 12 *disciples. A crowd also appeared with him. They were all carrying long sharp knives and heavy sticks. The important *priests, the teachers of the *Law and the important *Jews had sent these people with Judas.
v44 Before this, Judas had said to this crowd, ‘I will kiss one of the men. That is the man whom you are looking for. Take hold of him and lead him away between two people.’ v45 Judas went immediately to Jesus when they arrived. ‘Teacher’, he said to him. Then he kissed Jesus. v46 So the men took hold of Jesus. v47 One of the men who was with Jesus took hold of his long sharp knife. And he hit the servant of the most important *priest with it. He cut off the servant’s ear.
v48 Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. ‘You have come out here with sharp knives and heavy sticks to take hold of me’, he said. ‘So you must believe that I am leading people to fight against the rulers. That is how you would take hold of a man like that. v49 I was with you every day in the place round *God’s Great House when I was teaching the people. But you did not take hold of me then. The special servants from God wrote down that all this would happen to me. Now it has become true.’ v50 Then all of Jesus’ *disciples left him and they ran away.
v51 At that time, there was a young man there who was following Jesus. He was only wearing a piece of cloth. Someone tried to take hold of this young man. v52 But the young man left the cloth there, and he ran away. When he ran away, he was not wearing anything.
We think that this young man was called Mark. Mark wrote this book.
v53 The people took Jesus to the house where the most important *priest lived. The leaders of the *priests, the important *Jews and the teachers of the *Law came to meet together. They met with the most important *priest.
The most important *priest was called Caiaphas. When all these important *Jews met together they were called the *Jewish Court. They decided together about how to rule the people. There were 71 men in the *Jewish Court. The most important *priest ruled the meeting. The Court had a lot of power, but they could not kill a bad person. Only the *Roman rulers could do that.
v54 Peter followed the men who were holding Jesus. But he was not very near to them. When everyone went into the yard outside Caiaphas’ house, Peter went in too. He sat down with the police from *God’s Great House. Peter kept himself warm by the fire.
v55 The *priests’ leaders and the whole *Jewish Court wanted to find some men who could say things against Jesus. If some people did say things against Jesus, then the *Jewish Court could ask the *Roman rulers to kill him. But they could not find any bad things to say about him. v56 Many people came and they said things about Jesus. But the things that they said were not true. And they did not agree together about what he had done.
In *Jewish *Law, two or more people had to say the same thing about a person. Then the *judge would believe that their words were true. He would agree that the person had done something wrong.
v57 Then some men stood up and they said something else about Jesus. But their words were also not true. v58 They said, ‘We heard Jesus say, “I will destroy *God’s Great House that men have built. In three days, I will build another House for God. It will not be men who build this new house.” ’ v59 Even then, these people who were speaking against Jesus did not say the same thing.
v60 Then Caiaphas stood up in front of everybody and he spoke to Jesus. ‘Will you not reply? These people have said that you have done many bad things. What do you say about this?’ v61 But Jesus did not reply to the questions that Caiaphas asked. He did not say anything.
So Caiaphas asked Jesus, ‘Are you the *Messiah, the special person whom God chose to save us? Are you the Son of God?’
v62 ‘I am’, Jesus replied. ‘And you will all see the *Son of Man. I will be sitting at the right side of the most powerful God in the most important place. You will also see me when I come to earth. I will be riding on the clouds.’
v63 Caiaphas tore his coat. ‘We do not need anyone else to tell us about Jesus’, he said. v64 ‘You have heard him say that he is important like God is important. What have you decided to do with him?’
The leaders of the *priests and the teachers of the *Law and the other important *Jews said, ‘Jesus must die because of the things that he has said.’
Caiaphas tore his coat to show other people that he was very angry.
v65 Then some of the men began to *spit on Jesus. They tied a piece of cloth across his eyes so that he could not see. They hit him with their hands and they said, ‘Tell us who hit you! If you were a special servant from God, you could certainly do that!’ Then the soldiers took Jesus away and they hit him with their open hands.
v66 Now, while all these things were happening, Peter was still sitting outside the house. One of the girls who worked for Caiaphas came near to Peter. v67 She saw Peter, who was warming himself by the fire.
She looked carefully at him and she said, ‘You also were with Jesus, the man who came from the town called Nazareth.’
v68 ‘That is not true!’ he replied. ‘I do not know what you are talking about! I do not understand what you mean!’ Then Peter walked to the gate of the house.
v69 The girl who had seen him began to talk to the other people round about. ‘This man is one of the men who were with Jesus.’ v70 ‘That is not true’, said Peter. ‘I do not know him.’
After a little while, other people who were standing there spoke to Peter. ‘We are sure that you are one of his friends. You are from Galilee.’
They knew that he was from Galilee. They knew it because of the way that he spoke.
v71 Peter spoke strongly to them. ‘I do not know the man that you are talking about. God knows that this is true. If it is not true, then I want God to hurt me!’ v72 Immediately after Peter said this, the *cock made its noise for a second time that morning. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him. ‘Tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the *cock makes its noise for the second time in the morning.’ Peter understood what he had done. And he cried and cried.
v1 Very early the next morning, the *priests’ leaders, the important *Jews and the teachers of the *Law met together. They met with the other men in the *Jewish Court. Together, they decided what to do with Jesus. Their soldiers tied Jesus’ hands and feet. Then they led him away to Pilate’s house and they gave him to Pilate.
Pilate ruled Jerusalem for the *Romans.
v2 Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the *Jews?’
Jesus replied, ‘Yes, it is as you say.’
v3 Then the leaders of the *priests said to Pilate that Jesus had done many bad things. v4 So Pilate asked him again, ‘Do you not have an answer to say to these men? They are saying that you have done many bad things.’
v5 Jesus still did not answer him. And Pilate was very surprised about this.
v6 Each year at the time of the *Passover meal, Pilate let one person come out of the prison. The people could choose which person should be free. v7 A man called Barabbas was in prison at that time. He and some other men had fought in Jerusalem against the government. Barabbas and his friends had killed some people in the city. So the soldiers had put him in prison. v8 A crowd came together outside Pilate’s house. They said to him, ‘Pilate, please let a man come out of prison. You always do that for us at this time of the year.’
v9 Pilate said to the people, ‘Do you want me to let the king of the *Jews out of prison?’ v10 Pilate knew why the leaders of the *priests had brought Jesus to him. The people liked Jesus. And they were obeying what he taught them. The *priests did not like this because the people did not obey them any longer. v11 But the leaders of the *priests talked strongly to the people. ‘Do not ask Pilate to let Jesus go free. You must ask instead for him to let Barabbas go free.’
v12 So Pilate asked the crowd, ‘What, then, shall I do with Jesus? The man that you call “the king of the *Jews.” ’
v13 The people all shouted, ‘Kill him on a *cross!’
v14 ‘Why should I kill him on a *cross?’ Pilate asked. ‘What bad thing has he done?’
But the people shouted even louder, ‘Kill him on a *cross!’
v15 Pilate wanted to cause the crowd to be happy, so he said to his soldiers, ‘Let Barabbas out of the prison.’ Then he said to them, ‘Hit Jesus many times with a *whip. Then take him and kill him on a *cross.’
Pilate was afraid that the crowd would start to fight. So he did what they had asked him to do. He wanted them to be happy. Authorities used a *whip to *punish someone who has done something wrong. It had long narrow pieces of leather and someone had fixed pieces of metal to the ends.
v16 Then the soldiers took Jesus to the yard outside Pilate’s big house. All the soldiers in their group were there. v17 They removed the clothes that Jesus was wearing. Then they put a dark red coat on him. They made a *crown out of sharp branches, and they put it on his head.
A *crown is a special hat that a king wears. The dark red coat was also like the coat that a king wore. They did not believe that Jesus was really a king.
v18 The soldiers then began to shout out to Jesus, ‘You, King of the *Jews.’ v19 The soldiers took a stick and they hit Jesus on the head with it again and again. They *spat on him. Then they went down on their knees in front of him, as they would do for a king. They told him how great he was. But they did not mean what they said. v20 When they had finished *laughing at him, they took off the red coat. They put Jesus’ own clothes back on him. Then they took him to the place where they would kill him on a *cross.
v21 A man called Simon was walking past Jesus and the soldiers. He had come into the city from outside the walls. The *Roman soldiers said to Simon, ‘Carry this *cross!’ Then they pushed him to it. Simon was from the city called Cyrene. He had two sons, named Alexander and Rufus. v22 The soldiers led Jesus to the place that was called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a *skull.)
The skull is the bone inside a man’s head. This place had the shape of a skull.
v23 Someone tried to give Jesus some *wine to drink. They had put some medicine that was not sweet into the *wine. The medicine was called *myrrh. But Jesus would not drink the *wine. v24 The soldiers then removed the clothes that Jesus was wearing. They put big *nails through his hands and legs into the *cross. After that, they picked up the clothes that Jesus had worn. They played a game among themselves. In this way the soldiers knew who would get each piece.
v25 It was 3 hours after sunrise when the soldiers fixed Jesus to the *cross. v26 Above his head, they put a notice to say why they had killed him. The notice said, ‘This is Jesus, the king of the *Jews.’ v27 They also killed two other men on *crosses with Jesus. These men were bad men who had robbed some people. One man was on a *cross at the right side of Jesus. And the other man was on a *cross at his left side. [v28 And so what God’s special *messenger wrote became true. He wrote, ‘People counted him with people who did not obey God.’] v29 The people who walked by moved their heads from one side to the other side. And they said bad things to Jesus. ‘Now look at yourself! You said that you would destroy *God’s Great House. You said that in 3 days you could also build it again. v30 If you can really do that, save yourself. Come down from the *cross!’ they said.
Verse 28 is not in many old copies of Mark’s book.
v31 The leaders of the *priests and the teachers of the *Law all *laughed about him to each other. ‘This man saved other people when they were dying. But he cannot save himself. v32 He says that he is the special man from God. He says that he is the king who rules the *Jews. If he came down from the *cross now, then we would see it. And then we would believe him.’ The two men that the soldiers were killing together with Jesus also said bad things to him.
v33 It was now about 6 hours after sunrise; it was the middle of the day. The whole country became dark for three hours. v34 About 3 hours after noon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’
v35 Some people were standing near Jesus. They heard what he had shouted. And they said to each other, ‘Listen! This man is asking for Elijah to come.’
v36 One of these people ran quickly and he brought a soft cloth. He poured *wine that was not sweet on it. And he put it on the end of a stick. Then he lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the *wine from it. ‘Now let us wait for a moment and watch’, he said. ‘We will see if Elijah comes. He might take Jesus down from the *cross!’
v37 Then Jesus shouted loudly again and after that, he died.
v38 At that moment, the curtain inside *God’s Great House tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top to the other end. v39 The captain of the soldiers was standing in front of Jesus and he was watching Jesus. He had heard Jesus shout loudly. And he had seen how Jesus died. ‘It is true’, he said. ‘This man really was the Son of God.’
The curtain stopped people going into the special room inside *God’s Great House. God caused it to tear from the top down. The curtain was too thick for a man to tear it. The captain was an important soldier. He had authority over 100 other soldiers.
v40 Some women were also there. They were not very near the *cross. But they were watching all these things happen. Mary, from the town called Magdala, was among the women. Another woman called Mary was also there. She was the mother of the *disciples called young James and Joseph. Salome was also there. v41 All of these women had been Jesus’ *disciples when he was in Galilee. And they had also helped to supply his needs. Many other women had come to Jerusalem with Jesus. And they were there too.
v42 This was now the day when people prepared for their rest day. (That is, the day before the rest day.) Then the evening came. v43 A man called Joseph went to see Pilate. Joseph was from a town called Arimathea. And he was an important man in the *Jewish Court. He was waiting for the time when God would start to rule his people. Joseph was not afraid, and so he went to speak to Pilate. He asked Pilate if he could have the dead body of Jesus. v44 Pilate was surprised. He did not know that Jesus had already died. He asked, ‘Bring here the captain of the soldiers who killed Jesus.’ When he arrived, Pilate asked him, ‘Is Jesus already dead?’ v45 The captain replied, ‘Yes, Jesus is already dead.’ So, Pilate asked the soldiers to give the dead body of Jesus to Joseph. v46 Joseph bought a new piece of soft white cloth. He took the body of Jesus down from the *cross. And he put the cloth round the body. And he buried the body in a large new empty hole in a rock. After this, they put a very big stone across the hole.
v47 Mary from the town called Magdala, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were watching. They saw where Joseph had put Jesus’ body.
In that country, people buried dead bodies in large holes in the rock. They put a big stone in front of the hole to close it.
v1 When the *Jewish rest day was finished, the women bought some expensive oil and seeds with a beautiful smell. They wanted to put them on Jesus’ body. These women were Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of Jesus. v2 They went out very early the next morning when the sun was just rising. It was now Sunday, the first day of the week. They went to the place where Joseph had buried Jesus’ body.
The rest day finished when the sun went down. The women had bought the seeds in the evening. The *Jews always put these seeds on a dead body when they buried it.
v3 While they were walking along, the women asked each other, ‘Who will take the big stone away from in front of the hole?’
v4 They looked in front of them at the hole in the rock. And they saw that someone had already moved the very big stone away from the hole. v5 When the women went into the hole in the rock, they saw a young man. He was sitting on the right side of the place and he was wearing white clothes. They were very frightened.
v6 The young man said, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the man from Nazareth town. The soldiers killed him on a *cross, but now he has become alive again. He is not here. Look! You can see the place where Joseph put him. v7 You must go quickly to tell Peter and the other *disciples about this. Tell them that Jesus is going on before you to Galilee. They will all see him there, in the same way as he told you.’
Maybe Peter thought that he was no longer a *disciple. He had said three times that he did not know Jesus. But the young man’s words, ‘Peter and the other *disciples’, show that Jesus still included Peter.
v8 The women went out of the hole in the rock and they ran away from there. They were very frightened and they had troubles in their minds. They did not speak to anyone on their way, because they were so afraid.
People have found many old copies of Mark’s book. In some copies of Mark’s book, the story finishes here. In other copies, verses 9–20 are at the end of the book.
v9 Jesus became alive again early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary from Magdala. A long time before this, Jesus had caused seven bad *spirits to come out of her. v10 She went to the people who had been with Jesus. They were all very sad and they were crying. So, Mary told them what had happened. ‘Jesus has become alive again!’ she said to them. ‘I have seen him!’ v11 They heard her say that Jesus had become alive again. But they did not believe it.
v12 Later that day, Jesus appeared to two of his other *disciples. They were walking from Jerusalem to their home outside the city. They did not immediately recognise Jesus because he seemed to them like a different person. v13 Then these two *disciples immediately went back to the city. And they told all the other *disciples that they had seen Jesus. But the other *disciples did not believe what these two men said.
v14 After this, Jesus appeared to the 11 *disciples. He appeared to them while they were eating. ‘You should have believed the words of those who have seen me’, he said to them. ‘It was not good that you did not believe them. You chose not to believe what they told you. What they said was true.’
v15 Later Jesus said to his 11 *disciples, ‘Now you must go to all people everywhere in the world. Tell everybody the good news about me. v16 If a person believes your message, then you should *baptise him. And God will save that person. But if a person does not believe the message, God will not save him. v17 God will cause people who believe in me to be powerful. They will cause bad *spirits to leave people. They will speak different languages, which they have not learned. v18 If they pick up a snake, it will not hurt them. If they drink poison, it will not hurt them. They will put their hands on a sick person, and God will make that sick person well again.’
v19 After the *Lord Jesus had said all these things to them, God took him up to his home. And Jesus sat down at the right side of God.
v20 The *disciples went out everywhere. They told everyone the good news about Jesus. The *Lord Jesus worked with them. At the same time, the *Lord did powerful things for people to see. So the people knew that the *apostles’ message about Jesus was true.
AD ~ years after Jesus was born.
ancestors ~ the people in a family who lived a long time ago.
angel ~ one of God’s servants who brings messages from him.
apostle ~ a special *disciple of Jesus. These men had a special job to do for him. Their job was to teach other people about Jesus.
baptise, baptism ~ to put someone under water for a moment. They are sorry for all the wrong things that they have done. This shows other people that now they want to obey God.
Baptist ~ John was called John the Baptist because he *baptised people.
BC ~ years before Jesus was born.
blind ~ a blind person cannot see.
bridegroom ~ a man who is marrying a woman.
Caesar ~ the most important *Roman ruler. He lived in the city called Rome.
camel ~ a large animal like a horse that lives in the *desert. It can carry heavy things on its back.
carpenter ~ a carpenter is a man who works with wood or stone to make things.
cock ~ a bird that makes a loud noise early in the morning.
cross ~ someone fixed one piece of wood across another piece of wood. This made a cross. They fixed people to a cross to kill them.
crown ~ a special hat that a king wears on his head.
desert ~ a desert is a very dry place. Often there is a lot of sand and stones. There are not many plants. Not many people live there.
disciple ~ a person who wants to do the same things as another person, and learn from them.
dog ~ a small animal.
donkey ~ an animal like a small horse.
fast ~ when you do not eat any food.
fig ~ a fruit that is good to eat.
forgive, forgiven ~ not to remember wrong things that a person has done. God forgives us for the wrong things that we have done. He chooses to do this.
God’s Great House ~ the special big building in Jerusalem where people went to pray and to give gifts to God.
grapes ~ a fruit that people eat or make into *wine.
hell ~ place where God sends some people when they die. It is a place of *punishment for those who refuse to obey Jesus.
holy ~ special for God.
Holy Spirit ~ the name of one of the 3 persons who are God. He helps Christians to be more like God. We cannot see him. He makes people strong in their *spirits.
honey ~ honey is very sweet. An insect called a bee makes honey.
hypocrites ~ hypocrites say that they do one thing. But really they do something different. They want people to think that they are good. But, really, they are bad people.
Israel ~ all the people in the families of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God chose Israel to be his special people. The word can also mean the country that God gave to these people.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children and obeys the *Law of the Jews.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a *Jew or anything that belongs to a *Jew.
Jewish Court ~ a group of 71 important men. They were the leaders of the *priests, the important *Jews and the teachers of the *Law. They were ruled by the most important *priest. They met together and they *judged people. These men had great power. But the *Romans would not let them kill a person who did wrong things.
judge ~ a person with authority to say if another person is right or wrong.
judge ~ to say what is right or wrong, good or bad.
lamp ~ a light to use in a house.
laugh at, laugh about ~ to laugh against someone.
Law ~ the Law of the *Jewish people; the Law that God gave to Moses for Israel’s people to obey.
laws ~ rules that people must obey; the rulers of countries make these laws.
leprosy ~ an illness of the skin and bones. People who had this illness could not live with other people. They lived outside the town.
Lord ~ a name for God or for Jesus; it means that we obey him.
messenger ~ a person who has something to tell other people.
Messiah ~ God said that he would send a special person, called the Messiah, to save the *Jewish people. Jesus was this person.
Mount of Olives ~ a hill near Jerusalem city where many *olive trees grow.
myrrh ~ a medicine for pain.
nail ~ sharp thing that someone has made out of metal. People use a hammer to put a nail through something. This fixes it against something else.
needle ~ a thin sharp piece of metal. It has a small hole at one end.
net ~ people tie thin *ropes together to make a net. People use nets to catch fish or birds.
olive ~ a tree that has fruit on it called olives. People make oil from olives. They cook with the oil.
parable ~ a picture story. Jesus used stories to teach the people about himself and about God. He taught them about the way that God rules his people. Someone often needs to explain a picture story. Then we can understand what the story really means.
Passover ~ an important holiday for the *Jews. They eat a special meal on this day every year. They remember that God took them away from Egypt. They were slaves in Egypt and Moses led them away.
Pharisees ~ a group of *Jews. Pharisees went to a special school to learn God’s *Laws. They thought that they obeyed all God’s *Laws. They did not like the things that Jesus taught. They thought that they did not do any wrong things. So they thought that they were very important and clever.
power ~ a person who has power can do powerful things.
priest ~ a man who gave gifts and burned animals to God for the *Jews; a man who worked in *God’s Great House.
prophet ~ a person who tells people messages from God. He is a special servant from God.
psalms ~ songs that people sing to God; or, a book of songs in the Bible.
punish, punishment ~ when they cause someone pain because he or she has done wrong things.
Roman ~ a person or thing from the city called Rome.
rope ~ a long thin piece of strong material. People use ropes to tie things together.
Sabbath ~ the day when the *Jews rested. They did no work from Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset.
Sadducees ~ a group of *Jews who did not believe that people’s *spirits continued to live after death. They believed that dead people could not become alive again.
Satan ~ the bad *angel whom God sent away from God’s home a long time ago.
shepherd ~ a person who feeds sheep and keeps them safe.
skull ~ the bone inside a person’s head.
Son of Man ~ the name that Jesus used when he talked about himself. The *Jews would recognise this as a name that appeared in the books of Daniel and Ezekiel.
soil ~ the top part of the ground. Plants grow in it.
soul ~ the soul is a part of a person that we cannot see. Our soul is in us while we are alive. It still lives after we die.
spirit ~ the part of a person that is alive, but which we cannot see. It can speak to other spirits and to the *soul. There are bad spirits and good spirits.
spit, spat ~ to send water out of the mouth.
suffer ~ feel a lot of pain.
synagogue ~ a place or building where the *Jews meet together to pray to God. They also learn about God’s *Law there.
tax ~ the money that people must pay to the Government.
tax collector ~ people gave their *taxes to this man. He then gave the money to the Government.
tongue ~ part of the mouth that we use to drink and speak.
vine ~ a plant; it has fruit called *grapes.
wheat ~ a plant that has many seeds. Farmers grow wheat and people make bread with the seeds.
whip ~ long narrow pieces of leather; someone fixed pieces of metal to the ends; they hit people with it.
wine ~ a drink that people make from *grapes. It has alcohol in it.
wineskin ~ people kept *wine in wineskins after they had made it. These were like bottles and people made them from the skin of animals.
worm ~ an animal that lives under the ground. Some worms eat dead things.
yeast ~ people put yeast into flour and water to make bread. It grows in the bread. It makes the bread rise.
zealot ~ an enemy of the *Roman government. The zealots were a group of people who fought against the *Romans in *Israel.
Alan Cole ~ Mark ~ Tyndale Bible Commentaries
Robert Bratcher and Eugene A Nida ~ A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke ~ United Bible Societies
Alfred Marshall ~ The Interlinear NRSV-NIV. Parallel New Testament in Greek and English ~ Zondervan
Ruth Davies and Shirley Chapman ~ Hear this Good News for Everybody! An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) of the Gospel of Luke ~ Wycliffe Associates (UK)
Ruth Davies ~ Matthew tells us the Good News about Jesus. An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) of the Gospel of Matthew ~ Wycliffe Associates (UK)
© 1997-2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).
March 2006
Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info