The Bible — World English Bible
Mark 9
In brief
Mark 9 prepares the disciples for the cross. On the mountain, Jesus is transfigured and the Father's voice says to listen to his Son. Below, the disciples cannot free a boy, and his father prays: “I believe. Help my unbelief!” Jesus announces his death and resurrection, and answers the argument about greatness with service. The chapter ends with firm words about what makes us stumble and about salt.
The chapter in 5 parts
1He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death until they see God’s Kingdom come with power.”
2After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them.
3His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
4Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.
5Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
7A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
8Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Jesus only.
9As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.
11They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?
13But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.”
14Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them.
15Immediately all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, greeted him.
16He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”
17One of the multitude answered, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit;
18and wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth, and wastes away. I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they weren’t able.”
19He answered him, “Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
20They brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground, wallowing and foaming at the mouth.
21He asked his father, “How long has it been since this has come to him?” He said, “From childhood.
22Often it has cast him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”
23Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
25When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
26After crying out and convulsing him greatly, it came out of him. The boy became like one dead, so much that most of them said, “He is dead.”
27But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
28When he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”
29He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.”
30They went out from there, and passed through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know it.
31For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.”
32But they didn’t understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
33He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?”
34But they were silent, for they had disputed with one another on the way about who was the greatest.
35He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
36He took a little child, and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
37“Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, doesn’t receive me, but him who sent me.”
38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone who doesn’t follow us casting out demons in your name; and we forbade him, because he doesn’t follow us.”
39But Jesus said, “Don’t forbid him, for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me.
40For whoever is not against us is on our side.
41For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ’s, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.
42Whoever will cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck.
43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,
44‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
45If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna, into the fire that will never be quenched—
46‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
47If your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter into God’s Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire,
48‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
49For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
50Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Key verses
A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
The Father's voice names Jesus as his beloved Son and gives a single command: listen to him. Moses and Elijah disappear from the scene, and the disciples see only Jesus.
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Jesus picks up the father's “If you can”: the question is not Jesus' ability, but the trust of the one asking. The sentence describes the power of faith placed in God, not a guaranteed formula.
Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
An honest prayer: the father confesses both his faith and his doubt, and asks for help with both. Jesus does not reproach him for this sincerity.
He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
Jesus overturns the logic of greatness: to be first, you must be last of all and servant of all. The sentence answers an argument the disciples had along the way.
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
To have salt in yourselves is to keep what gives a disciple flavor and preserves life. The conclusion links this image to peace among the disciples, after the argument about greatness.
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Frequently asked questions about Mark 9
What does the transfiguration mean in Mark 9?
Jesus appears in his glory before three disciples, with Moses and Elijah, and the Father's voice names him as the Son to listen to. Six days earlier he had announced his death: the scene strengthens the disciples' faith and shows who the one about to suffer really is.
What does “I believe. Help my unbelief!” mean?
It is the prayer of a father who sees his son tormented. He believes, but he struggles with doubt, and he says so openly. Jesus answers by setting the boy free. The text shows that God welcomes an imperfect faith when it turns toward him.
Why does Jesus say this kind can only come out by prayer?
In verse 29, Jesus answers the disciples who had been unable to free the boy. He points them to dependence on God, expressed in prayer. Some manuscripts add fasting. Either way, the power comes from God, not from the disciple.
What do verses 43 to 48 mean about the hand, the foot and the eye?
Jesus uses deliberately striking language to say that nothing is worth losing life with God. Many Christians understand these words as a strong image and not as a call to mutilate oneself: it is about breaking without hesitation with whatever makes us stumble.
Articles quoting Mark 9
World English Bible translation — public domain.