The Longer Ending of Mark

In some ancient manuscripts, Mark’s gospel concludes after verse 16:8, the shortest ending of the Gospel. There are other manuscripts, however, that provide additional text, one of which contains only the following text after verse 8:

“And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”

A large number of ancient manuscripts contain a longer conclusion, either following the shorter ending cited above or directly following verse 8 (bracketed passages are not included in all manuscripts containing the longer ending):

“Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

“After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.