Passage

Mark 16.9-20

Book: Mark · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context

ASV (ASV)

"8. And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them: and they said nothing to any one; for they were afraid."

"9. Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10. She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11. And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved. 12. And after these things he was manifested in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. 13. And they went away and told it unto the rest: neither believed they them. 14. And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen. 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. 17. And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18. they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19. So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen." (Mark 16:9-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"8. They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid."

"9. Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11. When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. 12. After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. 13. They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either. 14. Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15. He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 17. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 18. they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19. So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20. They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen." (Mark 16:9-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"8. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."

"9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. 14. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." (Mark 16:9-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"8. And, having come forth quickly, they fled from the sepulchre, and trembling and amazement had seized them, and to no one said they anything, for they were afraid."

"9. And he, having risen in the morning of the first of the sabbaths, did appear first to Mary the Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons; 10. she having gone, told those who had been with him, mourning and weeping; 11. and they, having heard that he is alive, and was seen by her, did not believe. 12. And after these things, to two of them, as they are going into a field, walking, he was manifested in another form, 13. and they having gone, told to the rest; not even them did they believe. 14. Afterwards, as they are reclining (at meat), he was manifested to the eleven, and did reproach their unbelief and stiffness of heart, because they believed not those having seen him being raised; 15. and he said to them, 'Having gone to all the world, proclaim the good news to all the creation; 16. he who hath believed, and hath been baptized, shall be saved; and he who hath not believed, shall be condemned. 17. 'And signs shall accompany those believing these things; in my name demons they shall cast out; with new tongues they shall speak; 18. serpents they shall take up; and if any deadly thing they may drink, it shall not hurt them; on the ailing they shall lay hands, and they shall be well.' 19. The Lord, then, indeed, after speaking to them, was received up to the heaven, and sat on the right hand of God; 20. and they, having gone forth, did preach everywhere, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word, through the signs following. Amen." (Mark 16:9-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Mark (traditionally Peter's interpreter and amanuensis); the longer-ending appendix is widely held to be a later second-century supplement
Audience: the gospel proper is addressed to a Roman / Gentile-Christian audience; the longer ending is appended for the same readership
Location: events in Galilee / Jerusalem; gospel composed possibly at Rome
Time period: events c. AD 30; Mark proper composed c. AD 60-70; the longer ending added c. 2nd century

Theological reading

This is one of the two most-cited textually disputed passages in the New Testament (alongside the pericope adulterae at John 7:53-8:11). The longer ending is absent from the two earliest and most-weighted Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, both 4th c.), is missing from the Syriac Sinaitic and several early Latin and Armenian manuscripts, and is marked or noted as disputed by patristic witnesses including Eusebius and Jerome. Modern critical editions (Nestle-Aland, UBS) bracket or footnote the passage; modern scholarly translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) include it but mark it as textually disputed.

The apologetic point (deployed extensively against the Bart Ehrman "the Bible is corrupted in transmission" framing): the disputed passages are openly marked by modern translations, have been known to the Christian tradition for centuries, and no load-bearing Christian doctrine depends on a textually disputed reading. The deity of Christ, the resurrection, the atonement, the Trinity, none of these depend on Mark 16:9-20. The transparency of modern textual criticism on this passage is itself evidence of the manuscript record's integrity, not its corruption. See Bible Manuscript Reliability.

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches yet recorded for this passage.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.