Mark 8:37

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
What can anyone give in exchange for his life?

King James Version (1611)
Or what shall a man giue in exchange for his soule?

King James Version
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

English Standard Version
For what can a man give in return for his soul?

New American Standard Bible
"For what could a person give in exchange for his soul?

New Century Version
They could never pay enough to buy back their souls.

Amplified Bible
"For what will a man give in exchange for his soul and eternal life [in God's kingdom]?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Legacy Standard Bible
For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Berean Standard Bible
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Contemporary English Version
What could you give to get back your soul?

Complete Jewish Bible
What could a person give in exchange for his life?

Darby Translation
for what should a man give in exchange for his soul?

Easy-to-Read Version
You could never pay enough to buy back your life.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Or what exchange shall a man giue for his soule?

George Lamsa Translation
Or what could a man give in exchange for his life?

Good News Translation
There is nothing you can give to regain your life.

Lexham English Bible
For what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Literal Translation
Or what shall a man give as an exchange for his soul?

American Standard Version
For what should a man give in exchange for his life?

Bible in Basic English
And what would a man give in exchange for his life?

Hebrew Names Version
For what should a man give in exchange for his life?

International Standard Version
Indeed, what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Etheridge Translation
Or what shall a son of man give (as) the compensation for his soul ?

Murdock Translation
Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Or what shall a man geue, for a raunsome of his soule?

English Revised Version
For what should a man give in exchange for his life?

World English Bible
For what should a man give in exchange for his life?

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Or what shall a man give, in exchange for his soul?

Weymouth's New Testament
For what could a man give to buy back his life?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
or what chaunging schal a man yyue for his soule?

Update Bible Version
For what should a man give in exchange for his life?

Webster's Bible Translation
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

New English Translation
What can a person give in exchange for his life?

New King James Version
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

New Living Translation
Is anything worth more than your soul?

New Life Bible
What can a man give to buy back his soul?

New Revised Standard
Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For what can a man, give, in exchange for his life?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul:

Revised Standard Version
For what can a man give in return for his life?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
or els what shall a ma geve to redeme his soule agayne?

Young's Literal Translation
Or what shall a man give as an exchange for his life?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Or, what can a man geue, to redeme his soule withall?

Mace New Testament (1729)
or what would not a man bestow to preserve himself?

Simplified Cowboy Version
What kind of man would trade his soul for a two dollar lie?

Contextual Overview

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, "Who do the people say I am?" ²⁸ "Some say ‘John the Baptizer,'" they said. "Others say ‘Elijah.' Still others say ‘one of the prophets.'" ²⁹ He then asked, "And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?" Peter gave the answer: "You are the Christ, the Messiah." ³⁰Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: "It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive." He said this simply and clearly so they couldn't miss it. But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works." Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? "If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels." ³³A Meal for Four Thousand At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, "This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they'll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance." His disciples responded, "What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?" He asked, "How much bread do you have?" "Seven loaves," they said. So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha. When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, "Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you'll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee." He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn't a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, "Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod." Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, "Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don't you see the point of all this? Don't you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" They said, "Twelve." "And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?" "Seven." He said, "Do you still not get it?" They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man's eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up. "I see men. They look like walking trees." So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, "Don't enter the village." Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, "Who do the people say I am?" "Some say ‘John the Baptizer,'" they said. "Others say ‘Elijah.' Still others say ‘one of the prophets.'" He then asked, "And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?" Peter gave the answer: "You are the Christ, the Messiah." Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: "It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive." He said this simply and clearly so they couldn't miss it. But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works." ³⁴Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? ³⁸ "If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 49:7, Psalms 49:8, 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:19

Reciprocal: Job 27:8 - General Psalms 62:10 - riches Proverbs 4:7 - with Ecclesiastes 1:3 - profit Jeremiah 41:8 - Slay Matthew 16:26 - or

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?] To deliver it out of its miserable state and condition; all the riches of the world, and the whole world itself, are not an equivalent to it, or a sufficient ransom for it; riches will not profit in the day of wrath, or deliver a soul from damnation, and ruin: wherefore, if he had the whole world, he could not redeem his soul with it; and he has nothing else to give for it, and therefore it is past all recovery: :-.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage illustrated in the notes at Matthew 16:13-28.

Mark 8:32

He spake that saying openly - With boldness or confidence, or without parables or figures, so that there could be no possibility of misunderstanding him.

Mark 8:38

Ashamed of me - Ashamed to own attachment to me on account of my lowly appearance and my poverty.

And of my words - My doctrines, my instructions.

This adulterous and sinful generation - This age given to wickedness, particularly to adultery.

In the glory of his Father - In the day of judgment. See the notes at Matthew 26:64. The meaning of this verse is, Whosoever shall refuse, through pride or wickedness, to acknowledge and serve Christ here, shall be excluded from his kingdom hereafter. He was lowly, meek, and despised; yet there was an inimitable beauty in his character even then. But he will come again in awful grandeur; not as the babe of Bethlehem, not as the man of Nazareth, but as the Son of God, in majesty and glory. They that would not acknowledge him here must be rejected by him there; they that would not serve him on earth will not enjoy his favor in heaven; they that would cast Him out and despise him must be cast out by him, and consigned to eternal, hopeless sorrow.