Mark 8

¹In those days, when again there was a large crowd with nothing to eat, he summoned his disciples and says to them, ²"I am moved with compassion for this crowd, because they have already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way—and some of them have come from far away."

⁴His disciples answered him, "Where could anyone get enough bread to satisfy these people here in this desolate place?" ⁵And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."

⁶And he commands the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, he broke them and kept giving them to his disciples to serve, and they served them to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish. And blessing them, he said to serve these as well. ⁸And they ate and were satisfied, and they collected seven large baskets of leftover fragments. ⁹There were about four thousand. And he sent them away.

¹⁰And immediately, getting into the boat with his disciples, he went to the region of Dalmanutha. ¹¹The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, demanding from him a sign from heaven, testing him. ¹²And sighing deeply in his spirit, he says, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you—no sign will be given to this generation." ¹³And leaving them, he got back into the boat and departed for the other side.

¹⁴Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and except for one loaf they had nothing with them in the boat. ¹⁵And he was warning them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." ¹⁶And they were discussing with one another that they had no bread.

¹⁷And perceiving this, he says to them, "Why are you discussing that you have no bread? Do you still not understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you collect?" They say to him, "Twelve." ²⁰"And the seven for the four thousand—how many large baskets full of fragments did you collect?" And they say to him, "Seven." ²¹And he was saying to them, "Do you still not understand?"

²²And they come to Bethsaida. And they bring a blind man to him and beg him to touch him. ²³Taking hold of the blind man's hand, he led him outside the village. And spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" ²⁴And looking up, he said, "I see people—but I see them like trees, walking around." ²⁵Then again he laid his hands on his eyes, and he saw clearly and was restored and could see everything distinctly. ²⁶And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

²⁷And Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he was asking his disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?" ²⁸And they told him, "John the Baptizer; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." ²⁹And he asked them, "But you—who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and says to him, "You are the Messiah." ³⁰And he sternly warned them to tell no one about him.

³¹And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise. ³²And he was speaking this word openly. And Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him. ³³But turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and says, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of humans."

³⁴And summoning the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. ³⁶For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? ³⁷For what could a person give in exchange for his life? ³⁸For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."