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Mark 21210cause of the c rowd. So they made a holeby dig ging through the roof above Jesus.Then they low ered the man through it ona mat. 5 Jesus saw their faith. So he saidto the man, “Son, your sins are for giv en.”6 Some teach e rs of the law were sit ting t here. They were think ing, 7 “Whyis this fel low talk ing like that? He’s say ing a very evil t hing! Only God can for give sins!”8 R ight away Jesus knew what theywere think ing. So he said to them, “Whyare you think ing t hese t hings? 9 Is iteas i e r to say to this man, ‘Your sinsare for g iv e n’? Or to say, ‘Get up, takeyour mat and walk’? 10 But I want youto know that the Son of Man has au t hor i t y on e arth to for g ive sins.” So J esus s poke to the man who c ould not walk.11 “I tell you,” he said, “get up. Take yourmat and go home.” 12 The man got upand took his mat. Then he w alked away while ev ery one watched. All the peo plewere a mazed. They p raised God andsaid, “We have nev e r seen any thinglike this!”Jesus Chooses Levi and Eats WithSinners13 Once a gain J esus went out be sidethe Sea of Gal i lee. A large crowd cameto him. He be gan to t each them. 14 As he walked along he saw Levi, the son of Al phae us. Levi was sit t ing at the tax col lec tor’s booth. “Fol low me,” Jesus told him.Levi got up and fol lowed him.15 Lat e r Jesus was hav i ng din ner atLe v i’s h ouse. Many tax col lec t ors andsin ners were eat ing with him and hisdis c i ples. They were part of the large c rowd fol low i ng Jesus. 16 Some teach ers of the law who were Phar i sees were t here. They saw Jesus eat i ng with sin ners and tax col lec t ors. So they a skedhis dis ci ples, “Why does he eat with taxcol lec tors and sin ners?”17 Jesus heard that. So he said to them,“ T hose who are healthy don’t need a doc tor. Sick peo ple do. I have not come to get those who t hink they are r ight with Godto fol low me. I have come to get sin nersto fol low me.”Jesus Is Asked About Fasting18 John’s dis c i ples and the Phar i s eeswere go ing with out eat ing. Some peo plecame to Jesus. They said to him, “ John’sdis ci ples are fast ing. The dis ci ples of thePhar i sees are also fast ing. But your dis ci ples are not. Why a ren’t they?”19 Jesus an s wered, “How can the g uests of the g room go with out eat ing while he is with them? They will not fastas long as he is with them. 20 But thetime will come when the g room will betak en away from them. On that day theywill go with out eat ing.21 “No one sews a p atch of new clothon old clothes. Oth er w ise, the new piecewill pull away from the old. That willmake the tear worse. 22 No one p oursnew wine into old wine s kins. Oth e r wise, the wine will b urst the s kins. Thenthe wine and the wine skins will both bede stroyed. No, peo ple pour new wineinto new wine skins.”Reach Out to OthersMark 1:40–42Read Mark 1:40–42. It tells about a man who had a terribleskin disease. A person with this skin disease couldn’t beanywhere near other people. And no one would come near him.But Jesus did. He reached out and touched the man. The manwas healed.Do you know any children who might feel lonely? Kids thatno one wants to be around? You can show them that you careabout them just like Jesus does. Smile at them. Talk to them.Maybe they will ask you why you are the only person being niceto them. Then you can tell them that Jesus loves them too.

1211Jesus Is Lord of theSabbath Day23 One Sab bath day J esus was walk ing with his dis ci ples t hrough the grain fields. The dis ci ples be gan to break offsome h eads of g rain. 24 The Phar i seessaid to J esus, “Look! It is a gainst the Lawto do this on the Sab bath day. Why areyour dis ci ples do ing it?”25 He an s wered, “ H aven’t you everread about what Da v id did? He and hismen were hun g ry. They need ed food.26 It was when Abi a t har was high p riest.Da v id en tered the house of God andate the holy bread. Only p riests wereal lowed to eat it. Da v id also gave someto his men.”27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sab bath day was made for man. Man was notmade for the Sab bath day. 28 So the Sonof Man is Lord even of the Sab bath day.”Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day3An oth er time Jesus went into thesyn a gogue. A man with a weak andtwist ed hand was t here. 2 Some Phar i sees were try ing to find fault with Jesus.They w atched him close ly. They want edto see if he would heal the man on theSab bath day. 3 Jesus s poke to the manwith the weak and twist ed hand. “ Standup in f ront of ev ery one,” he said.4 Then J esus a sked them, “What doesthe Law say we should do on the Sab bathday? Should we do good? Or should wedo evil? S hould we save life? Or s houldwe kill?” But no one an swered.5 Jesus looked a round at them in an ger.Mark 2 — 3He was very up set be cause t heir h eartswere stub born. Then he said to the man,“ Stretch out your hand.” He stretched itout, and his hand had be come as good asnew. 6 Then the Phar i sees went out andbe gan to make p lans with the He ro di ans.They want ed to kill J esus.Crowds Follow Jesus7 Jesus went off to the Sea of Gal i leewith his dis c i ples. A large c rowd fromGal i lee fol lowed. 8 Peo ple heard about allthat Jesus was do ing. And many came tohim. They came from Ju dea, Je r u sa lemand Id u mea. They came from the l andseast of the Jor dan Riv er. And they camefrom the area a round Tyre and Si don.9 Be c ause of the c rowd, Jesus told hisdis c i ples to get a small boat ready forhim. This w ould keep the peo ple fromcrowd ing him. 10 Jesus had healed manypeo ple. So those who were sick werepush ing for ward to t ouch him. 11 Whenpeo ple con t rolled by evil spir its saw him,they fell down in f ront of him. The spir itsshout ed, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But Jesus or dered them not to tell peo ple about him.Jesus Appoints the TwelveDisciples13 Jesus went up on a moun t ain s ide.He called for cer t ain peo ple to come tohim, and they came. 14 He ap point ed 12of them so that they w ould be with him.He w ould also send them out to p reach.15 And he gave them au t hor i t y to d riveout de mons. 16 So Jesus ap p oint ed theHouse RoofsHouse roofs inNew Testamenttimes were madeby laying branchesover wood. Mudwas packed overthe branches. The friends who carried asick man to Jesus dug through the mudroof of a house and lowered the man intothe room where Jesus was teaching.

Mark 3 — 4121212 dis c i ples. Si mon was one of them. Jesus gave him the name Pe ter. 17 T herewere J ames, son of Zeb e dee, and hisbroth er John. J esus gave them the nameBo a ner ges. Bo a ner ges means Sons ofThun der. 18 T here were also An d rew,Phil ip, Bar thol o mew, Mat thew, Thom as,and James, son of Al phae us. And t herewere Thad dae us and Si mon the Zeal ot.19 Ju das Is c ar i ot was one of them too. Hewas the one who was lat er go ing to hand Jesus over to his en e mies.Jesus Is Accused by Teachersof the Law20 Jesus en tered a h ouse. A gain ac rowd gath e red. It was so large that Jesus and his dis c i ples were not evenable to eat. 21 His fam i l y heard aboutthis. So they went to take c harge of him.They said, “He is out of his mind.”22 Some teach e rs of the law were t here. They had come down from Je r u sa lem. They said, “He is con t rolled byBe el ze bul! He is driv ing out de mons bythe pow er of the p rince of de mons.”23 So J esus c alled them over to him.He be gan to speak to them us ing sto r ies.He said, “How can Sa t an d rive out Sa t an?24 If a king dom fights a gainst it s elf,it c an’t stand. 25 If a fam i ly is di v id ed,it c an’t s tand. 26 And if Sa tan f ights a gainst him s elf, and his help e rs aredi v id ed, he c an’t s tand. That is the endof him. 27 In fact, none of you can en tera strong m an’s house un less you tie himup f irst. Then you can steal things fromhis house. 28 What I’m about to tell youis true. Ev ery one’s sins and evil wordsa gainst God will be for giv en. 29 But who ev er s peaks evil things a gainst the HolySpir it will nev er be for g iv en. T heir g uiltwill last for ev er.”30 Jesus said this be cause the teach ersof the law were say i ng, “He has an evilspir it.”Jesus’ Mother and Brothers31 Jesus’ moth e r and broth e rs cameand s tood out side. They sent some one into get him. 32 A crowd was sit t ing around Jesus. They told him, “Your moth er andyour broth ers are out side. They are look ing for you.”33 “Who is my moth er? Who are mybroth ers?” he asked.34 Then J esus l ooked at the peo plesit t ing in a cir cle a round him. He said,“Here is my moth er! Here are my broth ers! 35 Any one who does what God wantsis my broth er or sis ter or moth er.”The Story of the Farmer4 A gain Jesus be gan to teach by theSea of Gal i lee. The crowd that gath ered a round him was very large. So hegot into a boat. He sat down in it out onthe lake. All the peo ple were a long the shore at the wa t er’s edge. 2 He t aughtthem many t hings us i ng sto r ies. In histeach ing he said, 3 “Lis t en! A farm e rwent out to p lant his seed. 4 He scat teredthe seed on the g round. Some fell on apath. B irds came and ate it up. 5 Someseed fell on rocky plac es, where t here w asn’t much soil. The plants came upquick ly, be c ause the soil w asn’t deep.6 When the sun came up, it b urned thePlanting SeedsFarmers in Jesus’ time didn’tuse machines to plant, orsow, their fields with seed.They took handfuls of seedsand threw them on theground they had plowed. Askillful farmer could spreadgrain seeds very evenly.

1213 lants. They dried up be cause they hadpno roots. 7 Oth er seed fell among t horns.The t horns grew up and crowd ed out the plants. So the plants did not bear g rain.8 Still oth er seed fell on good soil. It grewup and pro duced a crop 30, 60, or even100 t imes more than the farm er plant ed.”9 Then Jesus said, “Who ev er has ears should lis ten.”10 Lat er J esus was a lone. The 12 dis ci ples a sked him about the sto r ies. So didthe oth ers a round him. 11 He told them,“The se cret of G od’s king dom has beengiv en to you. But to out sid ers ev ery thingis told us ing sto r ies. 12 In that way,“ ‘They will see but never know whatthey are seeing.They will hear but neverunderstand.Otherwise they might turn and be(Isaiah 6:9,10)forgiven!’ ” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “ Don’t youun der stand this sto r y? Then how willyou un der stand any sto r ies of this kind?14 The seed the farm er plants is G od’smes sage. 15 What is seed scat tered ona path like? The mes s age is plant e d.The peo p le hear the mes s age. ThenSa t an comes. He t akes away the mes sage that was plant ed in them. 16 Andwhat is seed scat tered on rocky plac eslike? The peo ple hear the mes sage. Atonce they re ceive it with joy. 17 But theyhave no r oots. So they last only a s horttime. They quick ly fall away from the f aith when trou ble or suf fer i ng comesbe cause of the mes sage. 18 And what isseed scat tered a mong t horns like? Thepeo ple hear the mes sage. 19 But then thewor r ies of this life come to them. Wealth comes with its false prom is es. The peo ple also long for oth er t hings. All of theseare the k inds of t hings that c rowd outthe mes sage. They keep it from pro duc ing f ruit. 20 And what is seed scat teredon good soil like? The peo ple hear themes sage. They ac cept it. They pro duce agood crop 30, 60, or even 100 t imes morethan the farm er plant ed.”A Lamp on a Stand21 Jesus said to them, “Do you b ringin a lamp to put it un der a l arge bowlor a bed? Don’t you put it on its stand?22 What is hid den is m eant to be seen.And what is put out of s ight is m eant toMark 4be brought out into the open. 23 Who ev erhas ears s hould lis ten.”24 “ T hink care f ul l y a bout what youhear,” he said. “As you give, so you willre c eive. In fact, you will re c eive evenmore. 25 Who ev er has some t hing willbe giv en more. Who ev er has noth ing,even what they have will be tak en awayfrom them.”The Story of the Growing Seed26 Jesus also said, “Here is what G od’sking dom is like. A farm er scat ters seedon the g round. 27 N ight and day theseed comes up and g rows. It hap p enswheth er the farm er s leeps or gets up.He doesn’t know how it hap pens. 28 Allby it self the soil pro duc es grain. First the stalk c omes up. Then the head ap pears.Fi n al ly, the full g rain ap p ears in thehead. 29 Be fore long the g rain rip ens. Sothe farm er cuts it down, be cause the har vest is ready.”The Story of the Mustard Seed30 A gain J esus said, “What can we say od’s king dom is like? What sto r y canGwe use to ex plain it? 31 It is like a mus t ardseed, w hich is the small est of all s eedson earth. 32 But when you p lant the seed,it g rows. It be comes the larg est of all gar den p lants. Its branch es are so big that birds can rest in its shade.”33 Us ing many sto r ies like t hese, Jesus spoke the word to them. He told them asmuch as they c ould un der stand. 34 Hedid not say any t hing to them with outus ing a sto r y. But when he was a lonewith his dis c i ples, he ex plained ev ery thing.Jesus Calms the Storm35 When eve n ing came, J esus said tohis dis ci ples, “ L et’s go over to the oth erside of the lake.” 36 They left the c rowdbe h ind. And they took him a long in aboat, just as he was. T here were alsooth er b oats with him. 37 A wild stormcame up. W aves c rashed over the boat.It was about to sink. 38 Jesus was in theback, sleep i ng on a cush ion. The dis ci ples woke him up. They said, “Teach er! Don’t you care if we d rown?”39 He got up and or dered the wind tostop. He said to the waves, “Qui et! Be still!” Then the wind died down. And itwas com plete ly calm.

Mark 4 — 5121440 He said to his dis c i ples, “Why areyou so a fraid? D on’t you have any f aithat all yet?”41 They were ter r i f ied. They a skedeach oth er, “Who is this? Even the windand the waves obey him!”Jesus Heals a Man Controlledby Demons5They went a cross the Sea of Gal i leeto the area of the Ger a senes. 2 Jesusgot out of the boat. A man con t rolled byan evil spir it came from the tombs tomeet him. 3 The man l ived in the tombs.No one c ould keep him tied up any more.Not even a c hain c ould hold him. 4 His hands and feet had of ten been chained.But he tore the chains a part. And he broke the iron c uffs on his an k les. Noone was strong enough to con t rol him.5 Night and day he s creamed a mong the t ombs and in the h ills. He cut him selfwith stones.6 When he saw J esus a long way off, heran to him. He fell on his k nees in f ront ofhim. 7 He shout ed at the top of his voice,“ Jesus, Son of the Most High God, whatdo you want with me? Swear to God thatyou w on’t hurt me!” 8 This was be cause Jesus had said to him, “Come out of thisman, you evil spir it!”9 Then Jesus asked the de mon, “Whatis your name?”“My name is Le g ion,” he re p lied.“ T here are many of us.” 10 A nd he b egged Jesus a gain and a gain not tosend them out of the area.11 A large herd of pigs was feed ingon the near by hill side. 12 The de mons begged J esus, “Send us a mong the pigs.Let us go into them.” 13 Jesus al lowedit. The evil spir its came out of the manand went into the pigs. T here were about2,000 pigs in the herd. The w hole herd r ushed down the s teep bank. They raninto the lake and d rowned.14 T hose who were tend ing the pigsran off. They told the peo ple in the townand coun try s ide what had hap p ened.The peo ple went out to see for them selves. 15 Then they came to Jesus. Theysaw the man who had been con t rolled bymany de mons. He was sit t ing t here. Hewas now d ressed and think ing clear ly.All this made the peo ple a fraid. 16 T hosewho had seen it told them what had hap pened to the man. They told about thepigs as well. 17 Then the peo ple be gan tobeg Jesus to l eave t heir area.18 Jesus was get t ing into the boat. Theman who had been con t rolled by de mons begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did notlet him. He said, “Go home to your ownpeo ple. Tell them how much the Lordhas done for you. Tell them how kindhe has been to you.” 20 So the man wentaway. In the area k nown as the Ten Cit ies, he be gan to tell how much Jesus haddone for him. And all the peo ple were a mazed.Did You Know?Can demonsreally controlpeople?5:18 Demons areevil spirits. They arereal. They can makepeople do evil things. Youshould not have anything to do withdemons. Movies with pretenddemons are not good. The moviesleave out one important thing. Theydon’t tell you that Jesus is morepowerful than demons. When Jesusis our Savior, he protects us fromdemons.Jesus Heals a Dead Girl anda Suffering Woman21 Jesus went a cross the Sea of Gal i lee in a boat. It land ed at the oth er side. T here a l arge c rowd gath ered a roundhim. 22 Then a man n amed Ja i r us came.He was a syn a g ogue lead e r. W henhe saw J esus, he fell at his feet. 23 He begged Jesus, “ P lease come. My lit t ledaugh ter is dy i ng. P lace your h ands onher to heal her. Then she will live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.A l arge g roup of peo ple fol lowed. Theycrowd ed a round him. 25 A wom a n was there who had a sick ness that made her bleed. It had last ed for 12 y ears. 26 Shehad suf fered a g reat deal, even t houghshe had gone to many doc tors. She had s pent all the mon ey she had. But shewas get t ing worse, not bet t er. 27 Thenshe h eard a bout J esus. She came up

1215be hind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 She t hought, “I just need to touch his c lothes. Then I will be h ealed.”29 R ight away her bleed i ng s topped. Shefelt in her body that her suf fer ing wasover.30 At once Jesus knew that pow er hadgone out from him. He t urned a round inthe crowd. He a sked, “Who t ouched my clothes?”31 “You see the peo ple,” his dis c i plesan swered. “They are crowd i ng againstyou. And you s till ask, ‘Who t ouchedme?’ ”32 But Jesus kept look i ng a round. Hewant e d to see who had t ouched him.33 Then the wom a n came and fell at hisfeet. She knew what had hap p ened toher. She was shak ing with fear. But shetold him the w hole t ruth. 34 He said toher, “Dear wom a n, your faith has healedyou. Go in p eace. You are free from yoursuf fer ing.”35 W hile Jesus was s till speak i ng,some peo ple came from the house of Ja i rus. He was the syn a gogue lead er. “Yourdaugh ter is dead,” they said. “Why both er the teach er any more?”36 Jesus heard what they were say i ng.He told the syn a gogue lead er, “ Don’t be a fraid. Just be lieve.”37 He let only Pe ter, J ames, and John,the broth er of J ames, fol low him. 38 Theycame to the hom

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