Mark
9
- And he said to them, "I tell you the
truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God come with power."
- After six days Jesus took Peter, James and
John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone.
There he was transfigured before them.
- His clothes became dazzling white, whiter
than anyone in the world could bleach them.
- And there appeared before them Elijah and
Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
- Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is
good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah."
- (He did not know what to say, they were
so frightened.)
- Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them,
and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen
to him!"
- Suddenly, when they looked around, they
no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
- As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus
gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man
had risen from the dead.
- They kept the matter to themselves, discussing
what "rising from the dead" meant.
- And they asked him, "Why do the teachers
of the law say that Elijah must come first ?"
- Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah
does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the
Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected ?
- But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they
have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."
- When they came to the other disciples, they
saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.
- As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they
were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
- "What are you arguing with them about?"
he asked.
- A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher,
I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of
speech.
- Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to
the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I
asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
- "O unbelieving generation," Jesus
replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with
you? Bring the boy to me."
- So they brought him. When the spirit saw
Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground
and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
- Jesus asked the boy's father, "How
long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered.
- "It has often thrown him into fire
or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help
us."
- "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything
is possible for him who believes."
- Immediately the boy's father exclaimed,
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief !"
- When Jesus saw that a crowd was running
to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit,"
he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
- The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently
and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's
dead."
- But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted
him to his feet, and he stood up.
- After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples
asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out
?"
- He replied, "This kind can come out
only by prayer."
- They left that place and passed through
Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were,
- because he was teaching his disciples. He
said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands
of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."
- But they did not understand what he meant
and were afraid to ask him about it.
- They came to Capernaum. When he was in the
house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road
?"
- But they kept quiet because on the way they
had argued about who was the greatest.
- Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and
said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the
servant of all."
- He took a little child and had him stand
among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
- "Whoever welcomes one of these little
children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome
me but the one who sent me."
- "Teacher," said John, "we
saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because
he was not one of us."
- "Do not stop him," Jesus said.
"No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything
bad about me,
- for whoever is not against us is for us.
- I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you
a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not
lose his reward.
- "And if anyone causes one of these
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown
into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
- If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell,
where the fire never goes out.
- [Where their worm does not die, and the
fire is not quenched.]
- And if your foot causes you to sin, cut
it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet
and be thrown into hell.
- [Where their worm does not die, and the
fire is not quenched.]
- And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck
it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than
to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
- where "'their worm does not die, and
the fire is not quenched.'
- Everyone will be salted with fire.
- "Salt is good, but if it loses its
saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be
at peace with each other."
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