coffeebreak chapel

Inspired by the paraphrase The Message but admittedly annoyed with its dated idioms, I decided to write my own paraphrase of the Bible. At least of a couple books, anyway. My goal is to give my son a Bible that is easy for him to understand without being a simple “story Bible” that eliminates entire sections of the scripture. If you want to read other chapters of my paraphrase, just search for the tag TMWS, short for “The Most Wonderful Story.” I pray that this paraphrase will help me get deeper into the scriptures, and perhaps will let someone see the scripture in a new light. Remember, the Bible is as relevant today as it was the days it was written. Read it, discover it, live it.

Mark Chapter One

1 This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

2-3 A long time ago, God spoke and Isaiah wrote this down:

“I am sending a messenger to get everyone ready for when the Lord comes.”

What God said came true! He sent a messenger called John the Baptist.

4-6 John the Baptist talked about a baptism that would change lives and bring forgiveness. People from all over the country came to him, and he baptized them in the Jordan River when they confessed their sins.

John wore clothes made from camel hair. He had a leather belt and ate bugs and wild honey.

7-8 “Someone is coming after me who is more powerful than I am,” John the Baptist said, “I am not good enough even to tie his shoes! I baptize your bodies with water, but he will baptize your heart with the Holy Spirit.”

9 Then a man from Nazareth in Galilee came to John to be baptized in the river. His name was Jesus, and he was the one that John was talking about.

10-11 After he was baptized, Jesus looked up to the sky, and the Holy Spirit came down to him from heaven, like a bird. Then a voice came from heaven and said to Jesus, “You are my son. I love you, and you have made me very happy.”

12-13 Armed with the Holy Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness, where he was tested by Satan for forty days. Wild animals were with Jesus, and angels helped him.

14-15 After the king put John the Baptist in jail, Jesus went to Galilee and was telling everyone the good news about God. He said, “The time has come! The kingdom of God is here! Change your lives and believe in this good news.”

16-20 When Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers throwing nets into the water, trying to catch some fish. Their names were Simon and Andrew. Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will show you how to catch people instead of fish.” So Simon and Andrew quickly dropped their nets and followed Jesus. Then they saw more fishermen, including James and John and their father, Zebedee. Jesus called to them, and James and John left their father and followed Jesus.

21-28 They all went to Capernaum, and on the weekend, Jesus went into the synagogue, where all the people were, and he started teaching. All the people were surprised at Jesus, because he sounded like a confident ruler, not like the other teachers.

Then a man came who was being tormented by an evil spirit—a demon. The man yelled at Jesus, saying, “What do you want, Jesus? Have you come to destroy us? I know you can, because you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus said, “Be quiet, evil spirit, and leave this man alone!”

And the spirit angrily came out of the man, and everyone was amazed. The people talked about how powerful this Jesus was, and he quickly became famous for all the things he had done.

29-31 Then Jesus, Simon, Andrew, James, and John went to Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed, and when Jesus heard about this, he went to her, took her hand, and helped her up. Immediately, she was well again and began to serve them.

32-34 After the sun went down that day, the people in town were bringing people to Jesus who were sick or had evil spirits so he would cure them. People lined up at the door to see him, and Jesus cured the people of their sick bodies and sick spirits. But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they would tell everyone that he was the Son of God.

35-39 Very early in the morning, when it was still dark out, Jesus left the house and went by himself to pray. Simon and the others looked for him, and when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Jesus said, “Let’s go to the other towns and tell them the good news, too, because that is what I am supposed to do.” So Jesus and his friends went all throughout Galilee, and he told people the good news about God and freed people from evil spirits.

40-45 A man with leprosy came to Jesus and kneeled at his feet, saying, “You can heal me. Will you?”

Jesus felt bad for the man and touched him (even though the man was a leper). He said, “I will. Be clean!”

Immediately the man was clean—his leprosy was gone! Jesus told him, “Don’t tell anyone what I did, but go to the priests and give sacrifices, like Moses said to do, so they can see.” But the man went all around telling everyone what Jesus had done. The people heard, and they all wanted to see Jesus. So Jesus couldn’t go into the towns anymore without people following him around. He stayed in the country, and the crowds came to him.