‡ 5:43: not in the Bible, but see Qumran Manual of Discipline Ix, 21-26
§ 5:47: NU reads “Gentiles” instead of “tax collectors”.
† 6:1: NU reads “acts of righteousness” instead of “charitable giving”
‡ 6:13: NU omits “For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
§ 6:27: literally, cubit
† 7:14: TR reads “Because” instead of “How”
† 8:15: TR reads “them” instead of “him”
- 8:17: Isaiah 53:4
‡ 8:28: NU reads “Gadarenes”
- 9:13: Hosea 6:6
† 9:13: NU omits “to repentance”.
‡ 9:20: or, tassel
§ 9:36: TR reads “weary” instead of “harassed”
† 10:3: NU omits “Lebbaeus, who was also called”
‡ 10:8: TR adds “raise the dead,”
§ 10:25: Literally, Lord of the Flies, or the devil
† 10:28: or, Hell.
‡ 10:29: An assarion is a small coin worth one tenth of a drachma or a sixteenth of a denarius. An assarion is approximately the wages of one half hour of agricultural labour.
- 10:36: Micah 7:6
- 11:5: Isaiah 35:5
- 11:5: Isaiah 61:1-4
- 11:10: Malachi 3:1
† 11:12: or, plunder it.
‡ 11:19: NU reads “actions” instead of “children”
§ 11:23: or, Hell
- 12:4: 1 Samuel 21:3-6
- 12:7: Hosea 6:6
- 12:21: Isaiah 42:1-4
† 12:35: TR adds “of the heart”
- 13:15: Isaiah 6:9-10
† 13:25: darnel is a weed grass (probably bearded darnel or lolium temulentum) that looks very much like wheat until it is mature, when the difference becomes very apparent.
‡ 13:33: literally, three sata. Three sata is about 39 litres or a bit more than a bushel
- 13:35: Psalms 78:2
§ 13:49: or, end of the age.
† 13:55: or, Judah
† 14:25: The night was equally divided into four watches, so the fourth watch is approximately 3:00 a.m. to sunrise.
- 14:25: See Job 9:8
‡ 14:27: or, I AM!
§ 14:36: or, tassel
- 15:4: Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16
- 15:4: Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9
- 15:9: Isaiah 29:13
† 16:18: Peter’s name, Petros in Greek, is the word for a specific rock or stone.
‡ 16:18: Greek, petra, a rock mass or bedrock.
§ 16:18: or, Hell
† 17:2: or, transfigured
‡ 17:21: NU omits verse 21.
§ 17:24: A didrachma is a Greek silver coin worth 2 drachmas, about as much as 2 Roman denarii, or about 2 days’ wages. It was commonly used to pay the half-shekel temple tax, because 2 drachmas were worth one half shekel of silver. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
† 17:27: A stater is a silver coin equivalent to four Attic or two Alexandrian drachmas, or a Jewish shekel: just exactly enough to cover the half-shekel temple tax for two people. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, usually in the form of a silver coin.
† 18:9: or, Hell
‡ 18:11: NU omits verse 11.
- 18:16: Deuteronomy 19:15
§ 18:24: Ten thousand talents (about 300 metric tonnes of silver) represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day’s wages for agricultural labour.
† 18:28: 100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent, or about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of silver.
- 19:4: Genesis 1:27
- 19:5: Genesis 2:24
† 19:17: So MT and TR. NU reads “Why do you ask me about what is good?”
- 19:19: Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20
- 19:19: Leviticus 19:18
† 20:2: A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labour.
‡ 20:3: Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 a.m.
§ 20:5: noon and 3:00 p.m.
† 20:6: 5:00 p.m.
‡ 20:26: TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be”
† 21:1: TR & NU read “Bethphage” instead of “Bethsphage”
- 21:5: Zechariah 9:9
‡ 21:9: “Hosanna” means “save us” or “help us, we pray”.
- 21:9: Psalms 118:26
- 21:13: Isaiah 56:7
- 21:13: Jeremiah 7:11
- 21:16: Psalms 8:2
- 21:42: Psalms 118:22-23
† 22:24: or, seed
- 22:32: Exodus 3:6
- 22:37: Deuteronomy 6:5
- 22:39: Leviticus 19:18
- 22:44: Psalms 110:1
† 23:5: phylacteries (tefillin in Hebrew) are small leather pouches that some Jewish men wear on their forehead and arm in prayer. They are used to carry a small scroll with some Scripture in it. See Deuteronomy 6:8.
‡ 23:5: or, tassels
§ 23:7: NU omits the second “Rabbi”.
† 23:14: Some Greek texts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13. NU omits verse 14.
‡ 23:15: or, Hell
§ 23:21: NU reads “lives”
† 23:23: cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavour and appearance. It is used as a spice.
‡ 23:25: TR reads “self-indulgence” instead of “unrighteousness”
§ 23:33: or, Hell
- 23:39: Psalms 118:26
- 24:15: Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
† 24:21: or, oppression
‡ 24:28: or, eagles
§ 24:29: or, oppression
- 24:29: Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
† 24:34: The word for “generation” (genea) can also be translated as “race.”
‡ 24:36: NU adds “nor the son”
† 25:7: The end of the wick of an oil lamp needs to be cut off periodically to avoid having it become clogged with carbon deposits. The wick height is also adjusted so that the flame burns evenly and gives good light without producing a lot of smoke.
‡ 25:15: A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds (usually used to weigh silver unless otherwise specified)
§ 25:40: The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
† 26:26: TR reads “blessed” instead of “gave thanks for”
- 26:31: Zechariah 13:7
† 27:9: some manuscripts omit “Jeremiah”
- 27:10: Zechariah 11:12-13; Jeremiah 19:1-13; 32:6-9
‡ 27:34: or, vinegar
§ 27:34: Gall is a bitter-tasting, dark green oil from a wormwood plant that is alcoholic in its effect.
† 27:35: TR adds “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: ‘They divided my garments amongst them, and for my clothing they cast lots;’ ” [see Psalms 22:18 and John 19:24]
‡ 27:41: TR omits “the Pharisees”
§ 27:45: noon
† 27:45: 3:00 p.m.
‡ 27:46: TR reads “lama” instead of “lima”
- 27:46: Psalms 22:1
† 28:10: The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
‡ 28:19: TR and NU add “therefore”
Mark
The Good News According to Mark
1
1 The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophets,
“Behold,† I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you:*
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord!
Make his paths straight!’ ”*
4 John came baptising‡ in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. 5 All the country of Judea and all those of Jerusalem went out to him. They were baptised by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen. 8 I baptised you in§ water, but he will baptise you in the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving him.
14 Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”
16 Passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.”
18 Immediately they left their nets, and followed him.
19 Going on a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.
21 They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 24 saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”
25 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
26 The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they questioned amongst themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” 28 The report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of Galilee and its surrounding area.
29 Immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 He came and took her by the hand and raised her up. The fever left her immediately,† and she served them.
32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him
