Mark 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Events of about AD 28 to 29, written down around AD 60 to 70, near the time of Nero's persecution in Rome
Location
The Judean wilderness and Jordan river valley, then Galilee in the north, especially the fishing town of Capernaum on the lake shore
Audience
Non Jewish Christians, most likely in Rome, which is why Mark explains Jewish customs and translates Aramaic phrases for his readers
Situation
Mark opens with no birth story, jumping straight to John the Baptist preaching in the desert, the baptism of Jesus, and forty days of testing in the wilderness. Jesus then begins in Galilee, calls four fishermen, drives out an evil spirit in the Capernaum synagogue, heals Peter's mother in law and many others, and travels the surrounding towns.
Key Background
Mark is the shortest and probably earliest of the four gospels, and it moves at speed, using the word immediately more than forty times to give the account the pace of a report rather than a biography. Calling the opening line the beginning of the good news borrows a phrase Roman announcements used for imperial news, a pointed choice for readers under Caesar. Capernaum sat on a trade road by the Sea of Galilee and supported a commercial fishing industry, so Simon and Andrew were small business operators with boats and nets, not destitute laborers.
This is where the about Jesus, The the of begins.
It happened just like the Isaiah wrote: "Look — I'm sending my ahead of you, who will prepare your way."
"A voice is shouting out in the 'Get the road ready for Straighten out the paths for him!'"
And that's exactly what happened: John showed up in the wilderness, people and announcing, "Be submerged as a sign that you've — and your will be forgiven."
People from the whole and everyone in Jerusalem kept coming out to him. They were being submerged by him in the Jordan River as they their failures.
John wore clothes made from with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
He kept announcing, "Someone more than me is coming after me. I'm not even worthy to bend down and
I've submerged you in water, but he will submerge you in the of
It happened during that time that Jesus came from in and was submerged by John in the Jordan.
The moment he came up out of the water, he saw the sky and the coming down to him like a
And a voice came from the sky: "You are my and I you. You bring me so much
the Breath out into the wilderness.
He was out in the wilderness for being by the He was among the wild animals, and from took care of him.
After John was Jesus went into Galilee announcing God's
"The has he said. is right here, right now. and in this good news."
As he walked along the shore of he saw Simon and his brother Andrew their into the — they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them, "Come me, and I'll make you of
they dropped their nets and followed him.
Going on a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in their boat, their
Right away he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the and followed him.
They went to and as soon as the came, Jesus went into the and started teaching.
The people were by his teaching, because he taught them like someone with real — not like the
Just then, a man in their synagogue who was under the control of a screamed out,
"What do you with us, Jesus from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know exactly who you are. You're No Other!"
"Be Jesus commanded sharply. "Come out of him!"
The corrupting spirit the man let out a piercing scream, and came out of him.
Everyone was so they kept asking each other, "What is this? Some kind of — and it comes with authority! He even gives orders to corrupting spirits and they obey him!"
News about him spread everywhere throughout the whole surrounding region of Galilee.
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a and they immediately told Jesus about her.
He went over to and up. The fever left and she began them.
That evening people brought to Jesus everyone who was sick or under the control of corrupting spirits.
The gathered at the door.
He many people who had all kinds of diseases and drove out many corrupting But he the because they knew who he was.
Very the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, slipped out, and went to a where he
Simon and the others for him,
and when they found him, they said, "Everyone is looking for you!"
He told them, "Let's go somewhere else — to the nearby towns — so I can the there too. why I
So he traveled throughout all of Galilee, announcing the message in their synagogues and driving out corrupting spirits.
A man with a came to him, got on his knees, and begged him, "If you're willing, you can me
with Jesus reached out his hand and "I am willing," he said. "Be clean."
the skin disease left him, and he was made clean.
Jesus sent him away at once with a
"Don't tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the and offer what Moses required for your cleansing, as to everyone."
But instead, the man went out and began the everywhere. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but had to stay out in And still people kept coming to him from everywhere.