Mark 6
1 Leaving that place He came into His own country, accompanied by His disciples.
Jesus left [Capernaum city and went to his hometown, Nazareth]. His disciples went with him.
2 On the Sabbath He proceeded to teach in the synagogue; and many, as they heard Him, were astonished. "Where did he acquire all this?" they asked. "What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And what are these marvellous miracles which his hands perform?
(On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day), [he entered] the Jewish worship house and taught [the people]. Many who were listening to him were astonished. [But some] were saying, “[This man is just an ordinary person like we are! So (we cannot believe that] this man [is able to teach us] about these things and that he has been made very wise {that [God] has made him very wise} and that he is performing such miracles![/how is it that] [RHQ] this man [is able to teach us] about these things and that he has been made very wise {that [God] has made him very wise} and that he is performing such miracles?) [RHQ]
3 Is not this the carpenter, Mary's son, the brother of James and Joses, Jude and Simon? And do not his sisters live here among us?" So they turned angrily away.
([We know that] he is [just an ordinary] carpenter!/Isn’t he [just an ordinary] carpenter [RHQ]?) [We know him and his family! We know] Mary his mother! ([We know] his [younger] brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon!/Are not his [younger] brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon?) [RHQ] And (his [younger] sisters also live here in this town!/do not his [younger] sisters also live here in this town?) [RHQ]” So they despised him.
4 But Jesus said to them, "There is no Prophet without honour except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own home."
Jesus [knew that they refused to believe in him]. So he said to them, “[It is certainly true that] people honor [me and other] prophets [in other places, but] not in our hometowns! Even our relatives and the people who live in our own houses do not honor us!”
5 And He could not do any miracle there, except that He laid His hands on a few who were out of health and cured them; and
[So], although he healed a few sick people there by touching them, he [decided] not to perform many [other] miracles [in Nazareth] because the people there did not believe that he was the Messiah.
6 He wondered at their unbelief. So He went round the adjacent villages, teaching.
He was amazed that they did not believe [in him]. Mark 6:6b-13 Jesus [and his disciples] went from town to town [in that region] teaching [the people].
7 Then summoning the Twelve to Him, He proceeded to send them out by twos, and gave them authority over the foul spirits.
[One day] he summoned the twelve [disciples], and then he [told them that] he was going to send them out two-by-two [to teach people in various towns]. He gave them power [to expel] evil spirits [from people].
8 He charged them to take nothing for the journey except a stick; no bread, no bag, and not a penny in their pockets,
He also instructed them to wear sandals and to take along a walking stick when they were traveling. He told them not to take food, nor a bag [in which travelers carry supplies], nor any money for their journey. He also did not allow them to take extra clothing. [He wanted the people who heard their message to give them what they needed].
9 but to go wearing sandals. "And do not," He said, "put on an extra under garment.
10 Wherever you enter a house, make it your home till you leave that place.
He also instructed them, “After you enter a town, [if someone invites you to stay in his house], go into his house. Eat and sleep in that same home until you leave that town.
11 But wherever they will not receive you or listen to you, when you leave shake off the very dust from under your feet to bear witness concerning them."
Wherever the people do not welcome you and wherever the people do not listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave [that place]. By doing that, you will warn them [that God will punish them for rejecting your message].”
12 So they set out, and preached in order that men might repent.
[So] after the disciples went out [to various towns], they were preaching that people should stop their sinful behavior.
13 Many demons they expelled, and many invalids they anointed with oil and cured.
They were also expelling many evil spirits [from people], and they were anointing many sick people with [olive] oil and healing them.
14 King Herod heard of all this (for the name of Jesus had become widely known), and he kept saying, "John the Baptizer has come back to life, and that is why these miraculous Powers are working in him."
[King] Herod [Antipas] heard about [what] Jesus [was doing], because many people were talking [about it. Some] people were saying [about Jesus], “[He must be] John the Baptizer! He has come back to life! That is why he [has God’s] power to perform these miracles!”
15 Others asserted that He was Elijah. Others again said, "He is a Prophet, like one of the great Prophets."
Others were saying [about Jesus], “He is [the former prophet] Elijah, [whom God promised to send back again].” Others were saying [about Jesus], “[No], he is a [different] prophet, like one of the [other] prophets [who lived long ago].”
16 But when Herod heard of Him, he said, "The John, whom I beheaded, has come back to life."
Having heard [what the people were saying, King] Herod [Antipas] himself repeatedly said, “The man [performing those miracles] must be John! I [commanded my soldiers to] cut off his head, but he has come back to life again [to get revenge for my killing him]!”
17 For Herod himself had sent and had had John arrested and had kept him in prison in chains, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her.
The reason [King Herod concluded that John wanted revenge is as follows: Some time before this], Herod married Herodias, while she was [still] the wife of his [younger] brother, Philip.
18 For John had repeatedly told Herod, "You have no right to be living with your brother's wife."
John kept telling Herod, “[God’s] law does not permit you to marry the wife of your brother [while he is still alive].” Then, because Herodias [urged him to put John in prison], Herod himself sent [soldiers to John]. They seized John and put him in prison.
19 Therefore Herodias hated him and wished to take his life, but could not;
But because Herodias wanted to get [further] revenge on John, she wanted [someone] to execute him. But she could not do that because [while John was in prison], Herod kept John safe [from her].
20 for Herod stood in awe of John, knowing him to be an upright and holy man, and he protected him. After listening to him he was in great perplexity, and yet he found a pleasure in listening.
Herod did this because he respected/feared John, because he knew that he was a righteous and holy man. The king did not know what he should do, but he liked to listen to him.
21 At length Herodias found her opportunity. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet to the nobles of his court and to the tribunes and the principal people in Galilee,
But [Herodias was able to have someone execute John when they honored/celebrated] the day when Herod was born. On that day, he invited the [most important] government officials, the [most important] army leaders, and the most important men in Galilee [district] in order that they might eat [and celebrate with him].
22 at which Herodias's own daughter came in and danced, and so charmed Herod and his guests that he said to her, "Ask me for anything you please, and I will give it to you."
[While they were eating], Herodias’ daughter came into the room and danced, and that pleased [King] Herod and his guests. So the king said to her, “Ask me for whatever you desire and I will give it to you!”
23 He even swore to her, "Whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
He said to her, “Whatever you ask, I will give it to you! I will give you up to half of what I own and rule, if you ask for it. May God punish me [if I do not do what I have promised]!”
24 She at once went out and said to her mother: "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptizer," she replied.
The girl immediately left the room and went to her mother. She [told her what the king had said, and] asked her, “What shall I ask for?” Her mother replied, “[Ask the king to give you] the head of John the Baptizer!”
25 The girl immediately came in, in haste, to the King and made her request. "My desire is," she said, "that you will give me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist."
The girl quickly entered the room again. She went to the king and she requested, “I want you to command someone to [cut off] the head of John the Baptizer [and] give it to me at once on a platter, [so that my mother can know he is dead]!”
26 Then the King, though intensely sorry, yet for the sake of his oaths, and of his guests, would not break faith with her.
The king became very distressed [when he heard what she asked for], because he knew John was a very righteous man (OR, because he now knew that he should not have made that promise to her). But he could not refuse [what she requested because] he had promised [that he would give her anything she asked for], and because his guests [had heard him promise that].
27 He at once sent a soldier of his guard with orders to bring John's head. So he went and beheaded him in the prison,
So the king at once ordered the man who executes prisoners to go and [cut off] John’s head and bring it [to the girl]. That man went to the prison and cut off John’s head.
28 and brought his head on a dish and gave it to the young girl, who gave it to her mother.
He [put it on] a platter, brought it back, and gave it to the girl. The girl took it to her mother.
29 When John's disciples heard of it, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.
After John’s disciples heard [what happened], they went [to the prison] and took John’s body and then they buried [it in a burial cave].
30 When the Apostles had re-assembled round Jesus, they reported to Him all they had done and all they had taught.
The [twelve] apostles returned to Jesus [from the places to which they had gone]. They reported to him what they had done and what they had taught [to people].
31 Then He said to them, "Come away, all of you, to a quiet place, and rest awhile." For there were many coming and going, so that they had no time even for meals.
He said to them, “Come [with me] to a place where no people are living, in order that we can be alone and rest a little while!” [He said this] because many people were continually coming to them and going [away again], with the result that [Jesus and] his disciples did not have time to eat [or do anything else].
32 Accordingly they sailed away in the boat to a solitary place apart.
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a place where no people were living.
33 But the people saw them going, and many knew them; and coming by land they ran together there from all the neighbouring towns, and arrived before them.
[But many] people saw them leaving. They also recognized [that they were Jesus and the disciples, and they saw where they were going]. So they ran [ahead on land] from all the [nearby] towns to the place [where Jesus and his disciples were going]. They [actually] arrived there before [Jesus and the disciples].
34 So when Jesus landed, He saw a vast multitude; and His heart was moved with pity for them, because they were like sheep which have no shepherd, and He proceeded to teach them many things.
As Jesus [and his disciples] got out of the boat, Jesus saw this large crowd. He felt sorry for them because they were [confused], like sheep that do not have a shepherd. So he taught them many things.
35 By this time it was late; so His disciples came to Him, and said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late:
Late [in the afternoon], the disciples came to him and said, “This is a place where no people live and it is very late.
36 send them away that they may go to the farms and villages near here and buy themselves something to eat."
[So] send the people away in order that they may go to the surrounding farms and villages in order that they can buy for themselves something to eat!”
37 "Give them food yourselves," He replied. "Are we," they asked, "to go and buy two hundred shillings' worth of bread and give them food?"
But he replied, “[No], you [yourselves] give them something to eat!” They replied, “(We could not buy enough bread to feed [this crowd], even if we had as much money as a man earns by working 200 days!/How could we buy enough bread to feed [this mob], even if we had as much money as a man earns by working 200 days?)” [RHQ]
38 "How many loaves have you?" He inquired; "go and see." So they found out, and said, "Five; and a couple of fish."
But he replied to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and find out!” They [went and] found out and then they told him, “We have [only] five flat loaves and two [cooked] fish!”
39 So He directed them to make all sit down in companies on the green grass.
He instructed [the disciples to tell] all the people to sit down on the green grass.
40 And they sat down in rows of hundreds and of fifties.
So the people sat in groups. There were 50 people in some groups and 100 people in other groups.
41 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and lifting His eyes to Heaven He blessed the food. Then He broke the loaves into portions which He went on handing to the disciples to distribute; giving pieces also of the two fish to them all.
Jesus took the five flat loaves and the two fish. He looked up towards heaven and thanked [God] for them. Then he broke the loaves and fish into pieces and kept giving them to the disciples in order that they would distribute them to the people.
42 All ate and were fully satisfied.
Everyone ate [this food] until they all had enough to eat!
43 And they carried away broken portions enough to fill twelve baskets, besides pieces of the fish.
The disciples then collected twelve baskets full of pieces [of bread] and of the fish [that were left over].
44 Those who ate the bread were 5,000 adult men.
There were approximately 5,000 men who ate the bread [and fish. They did not even count the women and children].
45 Immediately afterwards He made His disciples go on board the boat and cross over to Bethsaida, leaving Him behind to dismiss the crowd.
Right away Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and then go ahead of him to Bethsaida [town, which was] further around [Lake Galilee. He stayed and] dismissed the many people who were there.
46 He then bade the people farewell, and went away up the hill to pray.
After he said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills in order to pray.
47 When evening was come, the boat was half way across the Lake, while he Himself was on shore alone.
When it was evening, the [disciples’] boat was in the middle of the lake and Jesus was by himself on the land.
48 But when He saw them distressed with rowing (for the wind was against them), towards morning He came towards them walking on the Lake, as if intending to pass them.
He saw that the wind was [blowing] against them as they rowed. As a result, they were having great difficulty. He approached them early in the morning, when it was still dark, by walking on the water. He intended to walk by them.
49 They saw Him walking on the water, and thinking that it was a spirit they cried out;
They saw him walking on the water, but they thought that he was a ghost. They screamed
50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. He, however, immediately spoke to them. "There is no danger," He said; "it is I; be not alarmed."
because they all were terrified when they saw him. But he talked to them. He said to them, “Be calm! Do not be afraid, [because] it is I!”
51 Then He went up to them on board the boat, and the wind lulled; and they were beside themselves with silent amazement.
He got into the boat [and sat down] with them and the wind [immediately] blowing. They were completely amazed [about what he had done].
52 For they had not learned the lesson taught by the loaves, but their minds were dull.
[Although they had seen Jesus multiply] the [bread and the fish], they did not understand [from that how powerful he was, as they should have]. They did not think clearly about it.
53 Having crossed over they drew to land in Gennesaret and came to anchor.
After they went further around [Lake Galilee in a boat, they came to the shore at Gennesaret town]. Then they tied up the boat there.
54 But no sooner had they gone ashore than the people immediately recognized Him.
As soon as they got out of the boat, [the people there] recognized Jesus.
55 Then they scoured the whole district, and began to bring Him the sick on their mats wherever they heard He was.
So they ran throughout the whole district [in order to tell others that Jesus was there]. Then the people [placed] those who were sick on stretchers and carried them to any place where they heard [people say] that Jesus was.
56 And enter wherever He might--village or town or hamlet--they laid their sick in the open places, and entreated Him to let them touch were it but the tassel of His robe; and all, whoever touched Him, were restored to health.
In whatever village, town or other place where he entered, they would bring to the marketplaces those who were sick. Then the [sick people] would beg Jesus to let them touch [him or] even the edge of his clothes [in order that Jesus might heal them]. All those who touched [him or his robe] were healed.
