Mark 9
1 Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth: some standing here won't die before they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”
He also said to [his disciples], “Listen carefully! Some of you who are here now will see God ruling powerfully in [many ways]. You will see it before you die!”
2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and led them up a high mountain to be by themselves. His appearance totally changed.
A week later Jesus took Peter, James and [James’ younger brother] John and led them up a high mountain. [While they were] alone up there, he appeared very different to them.
3 His clothes shone a brilliant white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.
His clothes became dazzling white. They were whiter than anyone on earth could make them by bleaching them.
4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared in front of them as well, talking with Jesus.
[Two prophets who had lived long ago], Moses and Elijah, appeared to them. Then the two of them began talking with Jesus.
5 Peter spoke up and said, “Rabbi, it's great for us to be here! We should make three shelters—one each for you, Moses, and Elijah.”
[After a short time], Peter [interrupted by] exclaiming, “Teacher, it is wonderful to be here! So allow us to make three shelters. One [will be] for you, one [will be] for Moses, and one [will be] for Elijah!”
6 (He really didn't know what to say because they were all so frightened!)
[He said this] because [he wanted to say something, but] he did not know what to say, because he and the other [two disciples] were very awestruck.
7 Then a cloud covered them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the one I love. Listen to him.”
Then a [shining] cloud appeared that covered them. [God] [EUP] spoke to them from the cloud saying, “This is my Son. I love him. [Therefore], listen to him!”
8 Then, all of a sudden, as they were watching, there was nobody. Only Jesus was with them.
When [the three disciples] looked around, they saw that suddenly Jesus was alone with them, and that there was no longer anyone [else] there.
9 As they came down the mountain Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone what they'd seen until the Son of man had risen from the dead.
While they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them that they should not tell anyone [yet] what had just happened to him. He said, “You may tell them after I, the one who came from heaven, (rise from the dead/become alive again) after I die.”
10 They kept this to themselves, but they did argue with each other over what it meant to rise from the dead.
So they did not tell others about it [for a long time]. But they discussed among themselves what it meant when he said that he would (rise from the dead/become alive again) after he died.
11 “Why do the religious teachers state that Elijah has to come first?” they asked him.
[The three disciples had just seen Elijah, but Elijah had not done anything to prepare people to accept Jesus. So] they asked Jesus, “The men who teach the [Jewish] laws say that Elijah must come back to the earth before [the Messiah comes to earth. But you have been here a long time and Elijah came just today. So is what they are teaching wrong?]”
12 “It's true that Elijah comes first to prepare everything,” Jesus replied. “But why then does it say in Scripture that the Son of man has to suffer so much and be treated with contempt?
[Jesus wanted them to know that John the Baptizer was the one who represented Elijah. So] he answered them, “It is true that [God promised to send Elijah to come] first [so that people would be ready when I came]. Elijah’s representative has already come, and our leaders treated him very badly, just like they wanted to do, just like it was prophesied {[the prophets] prophesied} long ago. But, (I also want you to consider what is written {what [the prophets] wrote} in the Scriptures about me, the one who came from heaven./why have you not thought about what is written {what [the prophets] wrote} about me, the one who came from heaven?) [RHQ] It is written {They wrote} that I would suffer much and that I would be rejected {that [many people] would reject me}.”
13 However, I tell you that Elijah has come, and they abused him in whatever way they wanted, just as Scripture said they would.”
14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw them surrounded by a large crowd and some religious teachers arguing with them.
[Jesus and those three disciples] returned to where the [other] disciples were. They saw a large crowd around the other disciples and [some] men who taught the [Jewish] laws arguing with them.
15 As soon as the crowd saw Jesus they were in total awe, and ran to greet him.
As soon as the crowd saw Jesus, they were very surprised [to see him come]. So they ran to him and greeted him.
16 “What are you arguing with them about?” Jesus asked them.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about?”
17 One of the people in the crowd answered, “Rabbi, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit that prevents him speaking.
A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son [here in order that] you [would heal him]. There is an evil spirit in him [that makes him] unable to talk.
18 Whenever he has a seizure it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and he becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out of him, but they couldn't do it.”
Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, he grinds his teeth together, and he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to expel the spirit, but they were not able to do it.”
19 “You unbelieving people!” Jesus responded. “How long must I remain here with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring him over here to me!”
Jesus replied by saying to those people, “(I am very disappointed that [although you] have observed how I help people, you do not believe [that you are able to do anything]!/Why is it that [although you] have observed how I help people, you do not believe [that you are able to do anything]?) [RHQ] (I have been with you a long time, [and you still cannot do what I do]!/How long do I have to be with you [before you can do what I do]?) [RHQ] Bring the boy to me!”
20 So they brought him to Jesus. When the evil spirit saw Jesus it immediately sent the boy into convulsions and threw him on the ground, where he rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
So they brought the boy to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it shook the boy severely, and [the boy] fell on the ground. He rolled around, and he foamed at the mouth.
21 “How long has he had this?” Jesus asked the boy's father. “Since he was small,” the father replied.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” He replied, “[This started to happen] when he was a child.
22 “Often it throws him into the fire to burn him to death, or throws him into water to drown him. Please have mercy on us and help, if you can.”
[The spirit does not only do this], but he also often throws him into the fire or into the water in order to kill him. But, pity us and help us, if you can!”
23 “Why do you say, ‘if you can?’” replied Jesus. “Whoever trusts has every power!”
Jesus exclaimed to him, “[Do not say] [RHQ] ‘If you can’, for [God/I] can do anything for people who believe [in him/me]!”
24 “I do trust in you,” the man shouted out right away. “Help me not to distrust you.”
Immediately the child’s father shouted, “I believe [that you can help me, but I do not believe strongly]. Help me to believe more strongly!”
25 Jesus, seeing that the crowd was closing in, commanded the evil spirit, “Spirit that causes deafness and dumbness, I order you to come out of him and never return.”
Because [Jesus wanted to heal the boy before] the crowd got bigger, he rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “You evil spirit, you who are [causing this boy to be] deaf and unable to talk! I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”
26 The spirit screamed and threw the boy into severe convulsions. Then the spirit came out of the boy and left him for dead—to the extent that many of the people said, “He's dead.”
The evil spirit shouted, it shook the boy violently, and then it left the boy. The boy did not move. He seemed like a dead body. So many of the people there said, “He is dead!”
27 But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him up, and he got to his feet.
However, Jesus took him by the hand and helped him get up. Then the boy stood up. [He was healed]!
28 Later, when Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him in private, “Why couldn't we drive the evil spirit out?”
Later, when Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, one of them asked him, “Why were we not able to expel [the evil spirit]?”
29 “This kind can't be driven out except by prayer,” Jesus told them.
He said to them, “You can expel this kind [of evil spirit] only by your praying [that God will give you the power to do it]. There is no other way that you can expel them.”
30 They left and passed through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know where he was
After [Jesus and his disciples] left that [district], they traveled through Galilee [district]. Jesus did not want anyone [else] to know [that he was in their area]; he did not want
31 because he was teaching his disciples. “The Son of man will be betrayed to human authorities,” he told them. “They will kill him, but three days later he will rise again.”
[anyone to interrupt him] as he taught his disciples. He was telling them, “[Some day my enemies] [SYN] will seize [MTY] me, the one who came from heaven, and I will be handed over [to other] men. Those men will kill me. But on the third day after I am killed {after they kill me}, I will become alive again!”
32 They didn't understand what he meant and were too afraid to ask him about it.
But they did not understand what he was telling them. Also, they were afraid to ask him about what he had said.
33 They arrived at Capernaum, and once they were inside the house where they were staying, Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about on the way?”
Jesus and his disciples returned to Capernaum [town]. When they were in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing [while we were traveling] on the road?”
34 But they didn't say anything because they had been arguing over who was the most important.
But they did not reply. [They were ashamed to reply] because, [while they were traveling], they had been arguing with each other about which one of them [would be] the most important [when Jesus became king].
35 Jesus sat down and called the twelve disciples together. “If anyone wants to be first, he has to be the very last, the servant of everyone else,” he told them.
He sat down, he summoned the twelve disciples [to come close to him], and then he said to them, “If anyone wants [God to consider him] to be the most important person of all, he must [consider himself] to be the least important person of all, and he must serve everyone [else].”
36 He took a small child and had the child stand right in the middle of them. Then he picked up and hugged the child, and told them,
Then he took a child and placed him among them. He took the child in his arms and then he said to them,
37 “Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me doesn't welcome me but the one who sent me.”
“Those who, [because they love] me, welcome a child like this one, [God considers that] they are welcoming me. So [it is as though] they are also welcoming [God], who sent me.”
38 John said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him because he wasn't one of us.”
John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone who was expelling demons, ([claiming he had] authority from you [to do that/while telling people] that you [have told him to do it]). So we told him to stop doing it because he was not one of us [disciples].”
39 “Don't stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who is doing miracles in my name can curse me at the same time.
Jesus said, “Do not tell him [not to do that]! For no one will speak evilly about me just after he performs a miracle while saying that I [have told him to do it].
40 Anyone who is not against us is for us.
Furthermore, those who are not opposing us are trying to [achieve the same goals that] we are.
41 Anyone who gives a cup of water to you in my name, because you belong to Christ, won't lose their reward, believe me.
Also think about this: Those [who belong to me who help you in any way, even] if they [just] give you a cup of water to drink because you follow [me], the Messiah, will certainly be rewarded [by God]!”
42 But if anyone leads one of these little ones who trust in me into sin, it would be better for them if they were thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around their neck.
[Jesus also said], “But if you cause someone who believes in me to sin, [God will severely punish you], even if that person is [socially unimportant like] this little child. If someone tied a heavy stone around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, [you would consider that was a severe punishment. But God will punish you more severely] than that [if you cause a person who believes in me to sin].
43 If your hand leads you to sin, cut it off! It's better to enter eternal life as a cripple than to go with both hands into Gehenna, into the fire that can't be put out. (Geenna g1067)
[So], if you are [wanting to use one of] [MTY, PRS] [your hands to sin, stop using your hand! Even if you have to] cut your hand off and throw it away [to avoid sinning, do it] [HYP]! It is good that you not sin and that you live eternally, [even though you lack one of] your hands [while you are here on earth]. But it is not good that you sin and as a result God throws your whole body into hell. There the fires never go out! (Geenna g1067)
45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It's better to enter eternal life lame than to be thrown into Gehenna still having two feet. (Geenna g1067)
If you are [wanting to use] one of [PRS] your feet to sin, [stop using your foot! Even if you have to] cut off your foot [to avoid sinning, do it] [HYP]! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, [even though] you lack one of your feet [while you are here on earth]. But it is not good that you sin and go to hell. (Geenna g1067)
47 If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out! It's better to enter the kingdom of God with just one eye than to be thrown into Gehenna still having both eyes, (Geenna g1067)
If because of what you see [MTY, PRS] you are tempted to sin, [stop looking at those things]! Even if you have to gouge out your eye and throw it away [HYP] [to avoid sinning, do it! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, even though you lack one of] your eyes [while you are here on earth]. But it is not good that you sin and, as a result, God puts your whole body in hell. (Geenna g1067)
48 where the worm doesn't die and the fire never goes out.
In that place people suffer forever and the fires are never put out {never go out}.”
49 Everybody will be ‘salted’ by fire.
“[You must endure difficulties in order that God will be pleased with you. Your difficulties are like] a fire [that makes things pure] [MET]. [Your enduring is also like] [MET] salt being put [on] {people putting salt on their} [sacrifices to make them pure].
50 Salt is good, but if it loses its taste, how could you make it salty again? You need to be like salt, and live in peace with one another.”
Salt is useful [to put on food], but you cannot [RHQ] make salt to taste salty again if it becomes flavorless [MET]. Similarly, you must remain useful to God, [because no one can make you useful to God again if you become useless]. You must also live peacefully with each other.”
