| Mark 7 |
Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity
1One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,a as required by their ancient traditions. 4Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their handsb in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.c)
5So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’d
8For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
9Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’e and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’f 11But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’g 12In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
14Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.h”
17Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
20And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
The Faith of a Gentile Woman
24Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.i He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. 25Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evilj spirit, 26and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews.k It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
28She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”
29“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” 30And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man
31Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.l 32A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.
33Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. 34Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” 35Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
36Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. 37They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”
| Mark 8 |
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
1About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, 2“I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”
4His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”
5Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they replied.
6So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. 7A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.
8They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 9There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. 10Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Pharisees Demand a Miraculous Sign
11When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
12When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” 13So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.
Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
14But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. 15As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’a Don’t you remember anything at all? 19When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20“And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
21“Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
22When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
24The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
25Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
27Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
29Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.b”
30But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Predicts His Death
31Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Manc must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.d
33Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 35If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?e 37Is anything worth more than your soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
| 1 Corinthians 3 |
Paul and Apollos, Servants of Christ
1Dear brothers and sisters,a when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people.b I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life.c 2I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?
5After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
10Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
16Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives ind you? 17God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,
“He traps the wise
in the snare of their own cleverness.”e
20And again,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise;
he knows they are worthless.”f
21So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— 22whether Paul or Apollos or Peter,g or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
| 1 Corinthians 4 |
Paul’s Relationship with the Corinthians
1So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. 2Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 3As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.
5So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.
6Dear brothers and sisters,a I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures,b you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. 7For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
8You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. 9Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.
10Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. 13We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.
14I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 15For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16So I urge you to imitate me.
17That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.
18Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. 19But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. 20For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. 21Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?
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