When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb.[1] 3 They were saying to each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?”[2] 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone — which was huge — had already been rolled away.
5 They went into the tomb and saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were terrified.[3] 6 But he said to them, “Don’t be afraid. You’re looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified. He has been raised. He’s not here. Look — this is the place where they laid him. 7 Now go, tell his disciples — and Peter — that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You’ll see him there, just as he told you.”[4]
8 They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and shock had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
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The Shorter Ending of Mark
A few manuscripts add these words after verse 8. The earliest and most reliable manuscripts end the Gospel at verse 8.
They gave a brief report of everything they had been instructed to say to those around Peter. After this, Jesus himself sent out through them the sacred and imperishable message of eternal salvation, from the east and as far as the west. Amen.
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The Longer Ending of Mark (16:9–20)
The earliest and most reliable manuscripts do not include verses 9 through 20. Later manuscripts add this ending, which is printed here.
9 After he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, who were mourning and crying. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. 12 After these things, he showed himself in a different form to two of them as they were walking along, going into the country. 13 They went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them either. 14 Later he showed himself to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he scolded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had been raised. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to every creature. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues, 18 they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything deadly it will not hurt them at all; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message through the signs that followed.
Notes
Note 1. In the Jewish reckoning a day ran from sunset to sunset, so “the first day of the week” had already begun at sundown on Saturday. The phrase “very early” (λίαν πρωῒ) points to the dim start of the morning, just as the sun was coming up. ↩
Note 2. The disk-shaped or boulder stones that sealed rock-cut tombs of this period could weigh a ton or more, hard for a few people to shift. The text calls this one “huge.” ↩
Note 3. Mark simply calls him a “young man” (νεανίσκον), not an angel. In Jewish writings of the era, white garments marked heavenly and righteous figures. It is the same word Mark used for the young man who ran off naked at Jesus’ arrest. ↩
Note 4. The phrase “just as he told you” points back to Jesus’ words on the night he was arrested, when he said that after being raised he would go ahead of them to Galilee (Mark 14:28). Galilee lay some 65 to 80 miles north of Jerusalem — Nazareth to Capernaum — the disciples’ home country where the story began. ↩