But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

"Grant us this," they answered, "to sit, one on your right, and the other on your left, when you come in glory."

But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

And [when they] heard [this], the ten began to be indignant about James and John.

But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

Then they [i.e., Jesus and the twelve apostles] came to Jericho [Note: This was a town about

And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

May the coming kingdom of our forefather David be blessed. Hosanna in the highest [i.e., may this blessing reach to the highest heaven]."

and He said to the tree, "Let no one ever again eat fruit from thee!" And His disciples heard this.

The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began searching for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, since the entire crowd was struck with astonishment at His teaching.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

For this reason I say to you, All things whatsoever ye pray for and ask, believe that ye receive it, and it shall come to pass for you.

And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

Jesus said to them, "I am going to ask you a question. Answer this, and I will tell you what authority I have for acting as I do.

And they began to discuss [this] with one another, saying, "What should we say? If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

they therefore gave Jesus this answer, we cannot tell. neither do I, said Jesus, acquaint you by what authority I act thus.

Then Jesus address'd himself to them in this parabolical manner. a certain person planted a vineyard, made a fence about it, clear'd the way for a wine-press, built a tower, and committed it to the care of vine-dressers, while he was travelling abroad.

So he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously.

He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed.

But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:

This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

And they were looking for a way to seize Him, but they were afraid of the crowd; for they knew that He spoke this parable in reference to [and as a charge against] them. And so they left Him and went away.

Then the Pharisees sent certain ones of their number [See Matt. 22:15-16] along with the Herodians [Note: This refers to members of a political party favoring King Herod] to attempt to trap Him by what He said.

Should we pay it, or should we not pay it?" But Jesus was aware of their hypocrisy and said to them, "Bring me the coin so I can see it." [Note: The amount of this coin was equivalent to one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994].

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.

Next came some Sadducees--the men who maintain that there is no resurrection. Their question was this--

"Teacher," they said, "Moses has written this law for us, that if a man's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother is to take the woman and raise offspring for his brother.

Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God?

Then came up one of the Teachers of the Law who had heard their discussions. Knowing that Jesus had answered them wisely, he asked him this question: "What is the first of all the commandments?"

“This is the most important,” Jesus answered:

Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

When Jesus saw that this man answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not [very] far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

So Jesus asked this question as He taught in the temple complex, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the Son of David?

for David himself, who was inspired by the holy spirit, has this expression, "the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand till I make thy enemies thy foot-stool."

Then Jesus sat down over near the [Temple] treasury and watched how the crowd was throwing money into the treasury [Note: This "treasury" was a large open-mouthed container used for receiving offerings for meeting expenses of Temple upkeep]. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money.

And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

but Jesus answer'd him, you see this magnificent structure, which shall not be left till it be all demolished, one stone after another.

“Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”

And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this.

But when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not disturbed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth pangs [the intolerable anguish and suffering].

"But pay attention to yourselves, for people will turn you over to [Jewish] councils [i.e., for judgment] and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings for being loyal to me. [This will afford you an opportunity] for witnessing to them.

And when they arrest you [and] hand you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you should say, but whatever is given to you at that hour, say this. For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

And you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end--this one will be saved.

“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing [in the temple sanctuary] where it ought not to be (let the reader understand) then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Also the person who is on a housetop [Note: This was a flat area where people retired for rest, prayer, etc., with its stairway on the outside] should not go down into his house to take anything out [when he flees].

Pray, too, that this may not occur in winter.

For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

But pay attention, for I have told you [all this] ahead of time.

and the stars will be falling from the sky and the forces of the heavens will be shaken. [Note: From the description of these same events in Luke 21:25-26, it is possible that this is figurative language for great calamities happening on earth].

“Learn this parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

so, whenever you see this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.

Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

Now the Passover Festival and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were held two days later. [Note: This was the annual Jewish Festival week commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership. The unleavened bread was specially baked bread containing no yeast, which was eaten for seven days as part of the celebration]. And the leading priests and experts in the law of Moses were looking for a way to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.

because they kept saying, "This must not happen during the festival. Otherwise, there'll be a riot among the people."

And while Jesus was in Bethany [Note: This was a small village fewer than two miles east of Jerusalem], sitting at the dinner table in the house of Simon, the man with an infectious skin disease [Note: This man had probably been healed by now], a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him, broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.

And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

For this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred shillings, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you bothering this woman? For she has done a kind deed to me.

She has done what she could. She has applied this aromatic oil to my body in anticipation of my burial.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

After this, Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the Chief Priests, to betray Jesus to them.

And [when] they heard [this], they were delighted, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how he could betray him conveniently.

They were grieved at this, and began to say to him, one after another: "Can it be I?"

And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

Truly I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine [i.e., grape juice] any more until that day when I will drink it again [i.e., figuratively] in the kingdom of God."

And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Jesus and His disciples came to a place called Gethsemene [Note: This was an olive orchard on a hillside just east of Jerusalem]. He said to His disciples, "You sit here while I [go away and] pray."

then advancing a little further, he fell on the ground, and prayed, that this anxiety might pass from him.

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

When he came back for the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough of this! The time has come. See! the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of wicked men.

And the traitor had given them this signal, saying, Whom I shall kiss, he is the one; take him, and lead him away safely.

I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but this is done that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

And a certain young man [Note: Some think this is a reference to Mark himself], who had a linen outer garment thrown over his scantily clad body, was following Jesus until they [i.e., the soldiers and officers] took hold of him. [Note: The wording here does not indicate total nakedness, but rather the wearing of underclothing only]

Some stood up and gave this false testimony against him:

We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

The high priest stood up and came forward and asked Jesus, “Have You no answer to give [in response] to what these men are testifying against You?”

At this the High Priest tore his vestments. "Why do we want any more witnesses?" he exclaimed.

And seeing Peter warming himself by the fire, she gave him a look, and said, You were with this Nazarene, even Jesus.

And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

And in the same minute, the cock gave a second cry. And it came to Peter's mind how Jesus had said to him, Before the cock's second cry, you will say three times that you have no knowledge of me. And at this thought he was overcome with weeping.

and at this time a man named Barabbas was in prison among the insurgents--persons who in the insurrection had committed murder.

[So], Pilate again asked them, "Then what shall I do to this one you call the king of the Jews?"

They placed a purple robe on Him [Note: Matt. 27:28 calls this a "scarlet" robe. In that day, any color with a mixture of "red" in it was often called "purple"], and making a wreath out of thorns, they placed it on His head.

They forced a passerby, named Simon of Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya], the father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the countryside, to go with them so he could carry Jesus' cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion].

They offered Him wine, mixed with aromatic spices, but He refused to accept it. [Note: Matt. 27:34 calls this "gall," a bitter drug for the purpose of dulling the pain of crucifixion].

Then they crucified Him. This done, they divided His garments among them, drawing lots to decide what each should take.

It was nine o'clock in the morning and they crucified Him. [Note: John 19:14 indicates that the crucifixion took place about noon. This can be harmonized if we take Mark's account to mean when the entire process began].

so that this passage of scripture was fulfill'd, "and he was numbred with the transgressors."

This Christ, the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even the men who were being crucified with Him heaped insults on Him.

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “Look, He’s calling for Elijah!”

And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

And there were also some women watching all this from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala; Mary the mother of the younger James and [his brother] Joseph [i.e., probably the wife of Clopas. See John 19:25]; and Salome [i.e., the mother of James and John and wife of Zebedee. See Matt. 27:56].

By this time it was evening, and as it was the day of Preparation (that is, the day before the sabbath)