And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said, "You have such little faith; why did you doubt?"

But the person who holds out [i.e., remains faithful to God] until the end [i.e., of this time of severe persecution] will be saved [from destruction].

Now the one who betrayed Him had given them a signal, saying, "Whoever I give a kiss [of greeting to], he is the one, take hold of him."

Suddenly Jesus met them and gave them greetings. They approached Him and took hold of His feet [and knelt] to worship Him.

[So], He took hold of the blind man by his hand and brought him out of the village. When Jesus spit [and put His saliva] on his eyes [See 7:33 for a similar use of His saliva in healing] and placed His hands on him [for healing], He asked him, "Can you see anything?"

You will be hated by all people because you belong to me, but the person who holds out [i.e., remains faithful to God] until the end [i.e., the end of this time of severe persecution] will be saved [from destruction].

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]

And those people [represented by seed falling] in the fertile soil are those who possess a good and honest heart when they hear the word [of God]. They hold on to it and patiently [continue until they] produce a crop.

For when an evil spirit takes hold of him he suddenly screams and [then] it throws him into convulsions so that he foams [at the mouth]. And it does not want to leave him, [even after] severely bruising him.

But they did not say anything. So, Jesus took hold of the [sick] man, and [after] healing him, sent him away.

And they kept watching Him, [even] sending informants who pretended to be good [men], in order to get hold of something He said so they could turn Him over to the ruling authority of the governor.

And they were not able to get hold of anything Jesus said in front of the people. And they marveled at His answer and did not say anything [further].

But before all these things happen, the authorities will grab hold of you, and persecute you, and turn you over to the synagogues and prisons [i.e., for punishment and confinement]. They will take you in front of kings and governors for being loyal to me.

Then, as they were leading Jesus away, the soldiers [See Mark 15:16-21] grabbed hold of a man named Simon, from Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya], who was coming in from the countryside, and placed the cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion] on him, so he could carry it while following Jesus.

Some Jewish [authorities] gathered around Him and asked, "How long will you hold us in suspense? If you [really] are the Christ, tell us plainly."

He stooped down and looked inside [the cave-like tomb] and saw the linen cloths lying there [i.e., these were wrappings used to hold embalming spices against the body], but he did not go in.

Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not ascended to the Father yet [Note: Apparently Jesus was discouraging Mary from embracing Him in worship as was done in Matt. 28:9, and thereby causing a delay of when the rest of the disciples would learn of His resurrection], but go to my brothers and tell them [I said] 'I am [about] to ascend to my Father and to your Father, and to my God and your God.'"

And Jesus did many other things; if every one of them were written down, I do not think the world would hold [all] the books that would be written.

"We strictly commanded you not to teach in this name [i.e., the name of Jesus] and look [what you have done]; you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to hold us responsible for this man's [i.e., Jesus'] death."

And so now I say, hold off your accusations and let these men alone, for if their planning and effort is [merely] of human origin, it will be defeated,

Then he kneeled down and called out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold them responsible for this sin [of killing me]." And when he said this he fell asleep [in death].

Then the Lord spoke to Paul in a night vision [i.e., a divinely given dream]: "Do not be afraid, but speak up and do not hold [anything] back,

When the seven days [required by the vow] were almost completed, the Jews from Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They incited the whole crowd and took hold of him,

Then the commanding officer approached Paul, took hold of him and ordered him to be secured with two chains. He then questioned him as to who he was and what he had done.

[and] you have been saved by it also, if you hold on to it firmly [i.e., continue believing and practicing it]. For if you do not [hold on to it firmly], you will have believed [it] all for nothing.

However, if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will hold back, so that no one will think more of me than what he sees or hears from me.

He existed in the form of God [i.e., He shared God's very nature], but did not consider [remaining] equal with God something [to continue] to hold onto.

as you hold out [i.e., offer to people] the message of [never ending] life. Then I will have something to boast about on the day of Christ's [return, See 1:6], that I had not run the race for nothing nor had worked for nothing.

[It is] not that I have already arrived at the goal [of spiritual maturity], or have already been made perfectly [righteous], but I am pushing onward in order to take hold of what Christ Jesus took hold of me for [i.e., to receive all that Christ intended for me].

Brothers, I consider that I, myself, have not yet taken hold [of Christ's ultimate purpose for me]. But there is one thing that I am doing; I am forgetting about my past [See verses 5-7], and reaching forward to what lies ahead.

Put everything [i.e., speakers and their messages] to the test, [then] hold onto what is good.

So then, brothers, stand firm [in the faith], and hold onto the [inspired] traditions which you were taught, whether by word [of mouth] or by a letter from us.

Fight the good battle of the faith; take hold of never ending life, to which you were called [i.e., by the Gospel. See II Thess. 2:14], [when] you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. [Note: This "confession" probably refers to a person's acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and Christ prior to his immersion. See Acts 2:36; Rom. 10:9-10].

[In that way] they will store up for themselves a treasure [of never ending rewards] for providing a solid foundation for the future, so that they can take hold of the true life [i.e., in heaven].

You should hold on firmly to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, while [maintaining your] faith and love in [harmony with] Christ Jesus.

[He must] hold on firmly to the trustworthy message, which is according to [our] teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort people with sound teaching and to convince those who contradict it.

but Christ [was faithful] as a Son over God's household. And we [Christians] are that household, if we hold on to our confidence [in Christ], and to the boasting [i.e., joy] of our hope [in God], firmly to the end [of our lives].

For we have become sharers with Christ, if we hold firmly onto the confidence [we had in Him] from the beginning until the end [of our lives].

And we will do so [i.e., go on to more advanced teaching] if God allows us to. For it is impossible to get people who have [completely] fallen away [from God] to repent again, because they [continue to] crucify for themselves God's Son all over again, and hold Him up to contempt.

He did this so that by two unchangeable things [i.e., His promise and His oath], (and it is impossible for God to lie), we, who have fled [to God] for refuge, could be greatly encouraged to take hold of the hope set before us [i.e., the hope of never ending life].

[So], we should hold on firmly to the profession of our hope [in God], without wavering from it, for God is faithful to His promises.

My brothers, do not hold [views regarding] the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ [i.e., as tenets of Christianity] which show favoritism toward [certain] persons.

"Write [this] to the angel [i.e., the messenger] of the church at Ephesus [Note: These "messengers," (verses 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) are thought by some to be evangelists]: These things are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

"But I have a few things against you because you have people there [in the church] who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumblingblock in front of the Israelites, [causing them] to eat food sacrificed to idols and to be sexually immoral [See Num. 23-24].

And in the same way, you also have some people [there] who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans [See verse 6].

Nevertheless, hold on firmly to what you [already] have [i.e., the qualities mentioned in verse 19] until I come [Note: This probably refers to coming with judgment on wrongdoing. See verse 16].

I am coming soon [or, suddenly. See 2:16, 25; 3:3]. Hold on firmly to what you have [i.e., opportunity, obedience, steadfastness, etc.] so that no one takes away your crown [See 2:10].

Then I fell down in front of him to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am [only] a fellow-servant with you and with your brothers who hold onto the testimony about Jesus. You should worship God. For the testimony about Jesus is the spirit [i.e., the purpose, or source] of prophecy."

And he took hold of the dragon, that old snake, who is the devil or Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years.