Mark 9 1107
Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit
14 When they came to the oth er dis ci ples ,
they saw a large crowd around them and the teach ers of the law ar gu ing with them .
15 As soon as all the peo ple saw Jesus , they
were over whelmed with won der and ran to greet him .
16 “ What are you ar gu ing with them
about ?” he asked .
17 A man in the crowd an swered , “ Teacher , I brought you my son , who is pos sessed by a spir it that has robbed him of speech .
18 When ev er it seiz es him , it throws him to
the ground . He foams at the mouth , gnashes his teeth and be comes rig id . I asked your dis ci ples to drive out the spir it , but they could not .”
19 “ You un be liev ing gen er a tion ,” Jesus replied , “ how long shall I stay with you ? How long shall I put up with you ? Bring the boy to me .”
20 So they brought him . When the spirit saw Jesus , it im me di ate ly threw the boy into a con vul sion . He fell to the ground and rolled around , foam ing at the mouth .
21 Jesus asked the boy ’ s fa ther , “ How long
has he been like this ?”
“ From child hood ,” he an swered . 22 “ It has of ten thrown him into fire or wa ter to kill him . But if you can do any thing , take pity on us and help us .”
23 “ ‘ If you can ’?” said Jesus . “ Ev ery thing
is pos si ble for one who be lieves .”
24 Im me di ate ly the boy ’ s fa ther exclaimed , “ I do be lieve ; help me over come my un be lief !”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene , he re buked the im pure spir it . “ You deaf and mute spir it ,” he said , “ I com mand you , come out of him and never en ter him again .”
26 The spir it shrieked , con vulsed him
vi o lent ly and came out . The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said , “ He ’ s dead .” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lift ed him to his feet , and he stood up .
28 Af ter Jesus had gone in doors , his disci ples asked him pri vate ly , “ Why couldn ’ t we drive it out ?”
29 He re plied , “ This kind can come out
only by prayer . a ”
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
30 They left that place and passed through
Gal i lee . Jesus did not want any one to know where they were , 31 be cause he was teaching his dis ci ples . He said to them , “ The Son of Man is go ing to be de liv ered in to the hands of men . They will kill him , and af ter three days he will rise .” 32 But they did not un der stand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it .
33 They came to Ca per na um . When he
was in the house , he asked them , “ What were you ar gu ing about on the road ?” 34 But they kept qui et be cause on the way they had ar gued about who was the great est .
35 Sit ting down , Jesus called the Twelve
and said , “ Any one who wants to be first must be the very last , and the ser vant of all .”
36 He took a lit tle child whom he placed
among them . Tak ing the child in his arms , he said to them , 37 “ Who ev er wel comes one of these lit tle chil dren in my name welcomes me ; and who ev er wel comes me does not wel come me but the one who sent me .”
Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us
38 “ Teach er ,” said John , “ we saw some one
driv ing out de mons in your name and we told him to stop , be cause he was not one of us .”
39 “ Do not stop him ,” Jesus said . “ For no
one who does a mir a cle in my name can in the next mo ment say any thing bad about me , 40 for who ev er is not against us is for us . 41 Tru ly I tell you , any one who gives you a cup of wa ter in my name be cause you belong to the Mes si ah will cer tain ly not lose their re ward .
Causing to Stumble
42 “ If any one caus es one of these lit tle
ones — those who be lieve in me — to stumble , it would be bet ter for them if a large mill stone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea . 43 If your hand caus es you to stum ble , cut it off . It is bet ter for you to en ter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell , where the fire nev er goes out . [ 44 ] b 45 And if your foot
a 29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting b 44 Some manuscripts include here the words of verse 48 .