World English Bible · Under Rome
Mark 1
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The beginning of the of , the Son of . As in , "Behold, I send before your , who will prepare your way before you: the voice of one crying in , 'Make ready of ! Make his straight!'" came in and preaching the of for forgiveness of . All the country of and all those of went out to him. They were by him in , confessing their . was clothed with camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate and wild honey. He preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen. I you in water, but he will you in ." In those days, came from of , and was by in . Immediately coming up from the water, he saw parting and descending on him like a . A voice came out of , "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Immediately drove him out into . He was there in forty days, by . He was with the wild animals; and the were him. Now after was taken into custody, came into , preaching the of Kingdom, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and Kingdom is at hand! , and in the ." Passing along by , he saw and , the brother of , casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men." Immediately they left their nets, and followed him. Going on a little further from there, he saw the son of , and his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their , , in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him. They went into , and immediately on the he entered into the and taught. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having , and not as the . Immediately there was in their a man with an , and he cried out, saying, "Ha! What do we have to do with you, , you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the One of !" rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" The , convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching? For with he commands even the , and they him!" The report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of and its surrounding area. Immediately, when they had come out of the , they came into the house of and , with and . Now wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. He came and took her by the hand and her up. The fever left her immediately, and she them. At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were by . All the city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many . He didn't allow the to speak, because they knew him. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and there. 36 and those who were with him searched for him. They found him and told him, "Everyone is looking for you." He said to them, "Let's go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason." He went into their throughout all , preaching and casting out . A came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean." Being , he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, "I want to. Be made clean." When he had said this, immediately the departed from him and he was made clean. He strictly warned him and immediately sent him out, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things which commanded, for a to them." But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in places. People came to him from everywhere.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.