Mark
Chapter 8
1 During that time, there was a large crowd with nothing to eat, so Jesus called his followers to him and said to them,
2 I feel sorry for all these people because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they might collapse on the way, because some of them have come from a long distance.
4 And his followers asked him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people in this remote place?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
6 He told the people to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, thanked God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to give to the people; and the disciples gave the bread to the people.
7 They had a few little fish; he gave thanks for them and told them to put these before the people too.
8 So they ate, were satisfied, and gathered seven baskets of leftover pieces.
9 About four thousand people had eaten, and he sent them away.
10 Right away he got into a boat with his followers and went to the area of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came out and started to question him, wanting a sign from heaven to test him.
12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? Truly, I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
13 He left them, got back into the boat, and went to the opposite shore.
14 The followers had forgotten to bring bread and had only one loaf with them on the boat.
15 He warned them, “Be careful and watch out for the Pharisees’ yeast and Herod’s yeast.”
16 They talked to each other, saying, “It’s because we don’t have bread.”
17 When Jesus realized this, he asked them, “Why are you worried about not having bread? Don’t you see or understand? Is your heart still hard?”
18 You have eyes but don’t see, and ears but don’t hear? Don’t you remember?
19 When I divided the five loaves for five thousand people, how many baskets of leftover pieces did you gather? They answered him, “Twelve.”
20 When you fed the four thousand, how many full baskets of leftovers did you gather? They said, “Seven.”
21 He asked them, “Why don’t you understand?”
22 He came to Bethsaida; people brought a blind man to him and asked him to touch the man.
23 He took the blind man’s hand, guided him out of the town, spat on his eyes, put his hands on him, and asked if he could see anything.
24 He looked up and said, “I see people like walking trees.”
25 Then he put his hands on the man’s eyes again, and told him to look up. The man’s sight returned, and he could see everyone clearly.
26 He sent him home with the instruction, “Don’t go into the town or tell anyone there.”
27 Jesus and his followers went to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “John the Baptist; but some say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
29 He asks them, “But who do you say I am?” And Peter answers, “You are the Christ.”
30 He told them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He started to teach them that the Son of Man had to go through a lot of suffering, be turned away by the elders, the main priests, and the writers, be killed, and then come back to life after three days.
32 He spoke those words clearly. Peter took him aside and started to correct him.
33 When he turned around and saw his followers, he scolded Peter, saying, “Get away from me, Satan; you do not care about what God wants, but what people want.”
34 When he gathered the crowd and his students, he told them, “If anyone wants to follow me, they must forget about their own desires, carry their own cross, and come with me.”
35 Anyone who wants to save their life will lose it, but anyone who loses their life for me and the good news will save it.
36 What good is it for someone to have everything in the world but lose their own life?
37 What can a person offer to buy back their life?
38 Anyone who is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful time, I, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of when I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels.