Mark 9  Legacy Standard Bible

The Transfiguration

9 And Jesus was saying to them, “^(A)Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come in power.”

^2 (B)And six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^(C)Peter and James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; ³ and ^(D)His garments were shining intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses and they were conversing with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter answered and *said to Jesus, “^(E)Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; ^(F)let us make three ^[a]booths, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud ^[b]formed, overshadowing them, and ^(G)a voice ^[c]came out of the cloud, “^(H)This is My beloved Son, ^[d]listen to Him!” ⁸ And all at once when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

^9 (I)And as they were coming down from the mountain, He ^(J)gave them orders not to recount to anyone what they had seen, ^[e]until the Son of Man rose from the dead. ¹⁰ And they ^[f]seized upon ^[g]that statement, arguing with one another ^[h]what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹ And they began asking Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹² And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of ^(L)the Son of Man that ^(M)He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has ^[i]indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

^14 (N)And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^(O)amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” ¹⁷ And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸ and ^[j]whenever it seizes him, it ^[k]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ^[l]becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ And they brought ^[m]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^(P)All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵ Now when Jesus saw that ^(Q)a crowd was ^[n]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, ^[o]I command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[p]again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. ²⁸ And when He came ^(R)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^30 (S)From there they went out and were going through Galilee, and He was not wanting anyone to know about it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^(T)The Son of Man is to be ^[q]delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.” ³² But ^(U)they ^[r]did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33 (V)And they came to Capernaum; and when He ^[s]was in ^(W)the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(X)they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^(Y)If anyone wants to be first, ^[t]he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And taking a child, He set him ^[u]before them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “^(Z)Whoever receives ^[v]one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Warnings About Discipleship

^38 (AA)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(AB)we tried to hinder him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (AC)For he who is not against us is ^[w]for us. ⁴¹ For ^(AD)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name because you are of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

⁴² “^(AE)And whoever causes one of these ^[x]little ones who believe to stumble, it ^[y]would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he ^[z]had been cast into the sea. ^43 (AF)And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[aa](AG)hell, into the ^(AH)unquenchable fire, ^44 [ab][and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into ^[ac](AI)hell, ^46 [ad][and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ^47 (AJ)And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into ^[ae](AK)hell, ^48 (AL)where their worm does not die, and ^(AM)the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but ^(AN)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ^[af]make it salty again? ^(AO)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AP)be at peace with one another.”