Mark 8
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
1In those days the crowd once again became very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples to Him and said, 2“I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.”
4His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”
5“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd. 7They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them and ordered that these be set before them as well.
8The people ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9And about four thousand men were present.
And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd, 10He immediately got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Demand for a Sign
11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.
12Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And He left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod
14Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.
17Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts? 18‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”
“Twelve,” they answered.
20“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”
“Seven,” they said.
21Then He asked them, “Do you still not understand?”
The Blind Man at Bethsaida
22When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked.
24The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.”
25Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26Jesus sent him home and said, “Do not go back into the village.”
Peter’s Confession of Christ
27Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?”
28They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
30And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him.
Christ’s Passion Foretold
31Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke this message quite frankly, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
33But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Take Up Your Cross
34Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must 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 for the gospel will save it.
36What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone 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 His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Ezekiel 29-31
EZK.29
A Prophecy against Pharaoh
1In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:
Behold, I am against you,
O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
O great monster who lies
among his rivers,
who says, ‘The Nile is mine;
I made it myself.’
4But I will put hooks in your jaws
and cause the fish of your streams
to cling to your scales.
I will haul you up out of your rivers,
and all the fish of your streams
will cling to your scales.
5I will leave you in the desert,
you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
and will not be taken away
or gathered for burial.
I have given you as food
to the beasts of the earth
and the birds of the air.
6Then all the people of Egypt
will know that I am the LORD.
For you were only a staff of reeds
to the house of Israel.
7When Israel took hold of you with their hands,
you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;
when they leaned on you,
you broke, and their backs were wrenched.
The Desolation of Egypt
8Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast. 9The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’ 10therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush. 11No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
12I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.
13For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. 14I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.
15Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations. 16Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”
Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar
17In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.
19Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.
21In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
EZK.30
A Lament for Egypt
1Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:
Wail, ‘Alas
for that day!’
3For the day is near,
the Day of the LORD is near.
It will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4A sword will come against Egypt,
and there will be anguish in Cush
when the slain fall in Egypt,
its wealth is taken away,
and its foundations are torn down.
5Cush, Put, and Lud,
and all the various peoples,
as well as Libya and the men of the covenant land,
will fall with Egypt by the sword.
6For this is what the LORD says:
The allies of Egypt will fall,
and her proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Lord GOD.
7They will be desolate among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie among ruined cities.
8Then they will know that I am the LORD
when I set fire to Egypt
and all her helpers are shattered.
9On that day messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten Cush out of complacency. Anguish will come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom. For it is indeed coming.
10This is what the Lord GOD says:
I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11He and his people with him,
the most ruthless of the nations,
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12I will make the streams dry up
and sell the land to the wicked.
By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation
upon the land and everything in it.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13This is what the Lord GOD says:
I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis.
There will no longer be a prince in Egypt,
and I will instill fear in that land.
14I will lay waste Pathros,
set fire to Zoan,
and execute judgment on Thebes.
15I will pour out My wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the crowds of Thebes.
16I will set fire to Egypt,
Pelusium will writhe in anguish,
Thebes will be split open,
and Memphis will face daily distress.
17The young men of On and Pi-beseth
will fall by the sword,
and those cities will go into captivity.
18The day will be darkened in Tahpanhes
when I break the yoke of Egypt
and her proud strength comes to an end.
A cloud will cover her,
and her daughters will go into captivity.
19So I will execute judgment on Egypt,
and they will know that I am the LORD.”
Pharaoh’s Power Broken
20In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.
22Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand. 23I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
24I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. 25I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall limp.
Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I place My sword in the hand of Babylon’s king, and he wields it against the land of Egypt. 26I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
EZK.31
Egypt Will Fall like Assyria
1In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:
‘Who can be compared
to your greatness?
3Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches that shaded the forest.
It towered on high;
its top was among the clouds.
4The waters made it grow;
the deep springs made it tall,
directing their streams all around its base
and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.
5Therefore it towered higher
than all the trees of the field.
Its branches multiplied,
and its boughs grew long
as it spread them out
because of the abundant waters.
6All the birds of the air
nested in its branches,
and all the beasts of the field
gave birth beneath its boughs;
all the great nations
lived in its shade.
7It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its limbs,
for its roots extended
to abundant waters.
8The cedars in the garden of God
could not rival it;
the cypresses could not compare with its branches,
nor the plane trees match its boughs.
No tree in the garden of God
could compare with its beauty.
9I made it beautiful with its many branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden,
which were in the garden of God.’
10Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, 11I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it.
12Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.
13All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs. 14This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’
15This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit.
Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. 17They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.
18Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
