spirit song text
Dramatic presentation of epic poems on the life of Jesus.
16
songs
328
plays
The Song of Mark, Chapter 1 The Song of Mark, Chapter 1
First chapter of Mark's gospel story, recited as a dramatic poem with music.
The Song of Mark, Chapter 2 The Song of Mark, Chapter 2
Epic poem retelling the second chapter of Mark with dramatic background music.
The Song of Mark, Chapter 3 The Song of Mark, Chapter 3
Epic poem retelling of the third chapter of Mark's gospel with dramatic background music.
The Song of Mark, Chapter 4 The Song of Mark, Chapter 4
Epic poem retelling chapter 4 of the gospel of Mark.
The Song of Mark, Chapter 5 The Song of Mark, Chapter 5
Epic poem retelling chapter 5 of the gospel of Mark, with dramatic background music.
Show all (16)
Spirit Song Text presents original poetic paraphrases of the four new testament gospels with dramatic musical background to enhance understanding of the stories. Each song is an entire chapter from the biblical book. Writing and production of these gospel epics is by Jabez Van Cleef, a poet living in Madison, NJ (USA).Band/artist history
For ten years I have been writing verse paraphrases of the four "New Testament" gospels. Read on to see the entire text of the The Song of Mark.
These texts are used as the basis for the spoken word recordings on this site. For my recordings, I have arranged the words with royalty-free sounds from various sources. If you are interested in using any of my texts for your own music, please contact me.
Thank you for your interest in Spirit Song Text. You can contact me at jabez.vancleef at verizon.net.
The Song Of Mark
A Verse Rendering
Of
The Gospel According To St. Mark
By
Jabez L. Van Cleef
1999-2005, Jabez L. Van Cleef
About the Text
The text of this work is adapted from “The Song Of Mark” first appearing in the book Gospels In Verse, Volume II, A Text Resource for Musicians and Composers,
(Xlibris Corporation, www.Xlibris.com).
The text here diverges from the conventional New Testament Gospel as follows:
1. I have attempted to remove from the story all false and sinful condemnations of Jews which have historically contributed to the practice of eliminationist anti-semitism. The crucifixion of Jesus is shown as the assertion of Roman power, with the collusion of certain religious authorities, within the context of a cosmopolitan and polyglot community.
2. The conventional notion that Jesus was followed by a band of twelve men has been modified to include occasional references to women among his followers. Because Judas is often considered to be a personification of the supposed betrayal of Christ by Jews, some references to Judas have been deleted. The group referred to as “disciples” is construed to include both women and men.
3. Narrative which includes masculine pronouns and other gender-specific terms has often been modified to allow interpretation as descriptive of either sex.
4. References to God or Jesus which would favor one form of human government over another, e.g. ‘king’, have often been deleted.
In all other I have attempted to create a text for singing that is “congruent” with holy scripture, as advised in The Book of Common Prayer (pg. 14). I welcome any suggestions to change the text in accordance with the above guidelines if a reader discovers the need for such alterations.
Send all inquiries to jabez.vancleef at verizon.net or visit http://www.spiritsongtext.com
The Song of Mark
1.
Hearken of Jesus what he did,
Redeemer and one flesh with God.
Isaiah the prophet called: See there,
In ev’ry place a harbinger,
For soon God’s way shall come to pass;
A voice calls from the wilderness:
Prepare now for the tread of God!
So in the desert John appeared.
With water he did wash their sin;
They repented and were forgiv’n.
So all the people came to him
From th’ country and Jerusalem;
In River Jordan there they stood
Confessing every evil deed.
John clothed himself in camel hair,
The hairy hides of beasts he wore,
Locusts and sweet wild honey ate,
And he used neither spoon nor plate,
He cried aloud to all of them,
Proclaiming, After me will come
The one who towers over me,
Whose sandals I may not untie,
With water now I wash your sin,
And he with Holy Spirit then.
So, soon Jesus did come to see,
From Nazareth in Galilee,
In the Jordan he stood with John,
Who took his head and plunged it in.
Then, when his face came up again,
The people saw a light shine down,
Like a white dove it came to rest,
And Jesus held it in his breast.
There came a voice from out of heav’n:
THIS ONE IS MY BELOVED SON.
The Holy Spirit in his heart
Led Jesus to a place apart.
Out in the desert he did go,
And Satan there did tempt him so.
Then came wild beasts, with fang and claw,
But angels Jesus oversaw,
For forty nights and one more day.
Then he came back to Galilee.
Soldiers had locked John in a cell;
So Jesus preached to one and all:
The time is come, repent, believe,
And you will all your God receive.
From off a rock beside their boat,
Simon and Andrew cast their net.
Jesus said, Come and follow me,
Fishers of men you now shall be.
They left their nets and followed him,
And soon they caught two other men,
Called James and John of Zebedee,
Who joined them to make five of three.
They all went to Capernaum
And to the synagogue they came.
There, on the Sabbath, Jesus spoke:
Many a rule his teaching broke.
As a rabbi he preached and taught,
Not as a scribe who learns by rote.
Then from the crowd, inside a man,
A spirit, troubled and unclean,
Cried out, O Jesus, are you here?
O Jesus, I know who you are!
You are the Holy One of God!
But Jesus to the spirit called,
Be silent! Come now, out to me!
So loud the spirit then did cry,
And shook, and trembled so, the man,
When out of him the devil came,
That all the people spoke of this,
And Jesus’ name did through them pass,
Till word of his authority
Spread everywhere in Galilee.
He healed Simon’s mother-in-law,
And all the people came and saw;
And all the sick they brought to him,
The blind, possessed, afflicted, lame,
The whole city, wealthy or poor,
Gathered and stood outside his door.
If they were dying, he was life,
And out the demons he would drive,
But as he righted each their wrongs
He made the devils hold their tongues.
Before the sun came up one day,
He found a lonely place to pray.
Then when Simon came with the rest,
Jesus saw that his lot was cast.
My friends, he said, let us go on,
And we will preach in every town.
So as they went through Galilee,
The demons he would cast away.
A leper down before him fell,
And said, Lord, heal me if you will,
I know that you can make me clean.
So Jesus reached out with his hand
And touched him, saying, You are clean,
And Jesus’ touch did heal his skin.
Then Jesus left the man alone,
Instructing him to tell no one:
First show the priest your skin is healed,
Then make an off’ring as you should,
But do not tell them I healed you.
Yet that is what the man did do;
So still the crowds would press him in,
And Jesus often walked alone.
2.
Some days later Jesus came home
To his place in Capernaum.
The people gathered thick and close,
There by the front door of the house.
Out from the mingling of the crowd,
Four men brought in a crippled friend:
Stretched on a mattress, stiff and prone,
He sought the touch of Jesus’ hand.
When all the people blocked the door,
The man was lifted by these four
Up to the roof, and then let down,
On his spare pallet, to the ground.
Jesus gave comfort to this man,
And said, I now forgive your sin.
Authorities watched him, and they thought,
Does Jesus think that he is God?
But Jesus read their thoughts and asked,
Why do you take me so to task?
Tell me, which one is easier?
For me to say to this man here
My son, I now forgive your sin?
Or rather, say, Now walk again?
I can forgive what sins there are
Because I have this pow’r, and more.
Then Jesus to the cripple spoke,
Now take your pallet up and walk.
The cripple stood before the crowd;
And all their eyes were opened wide.
They sent hosannas up to heav’n
And doubted what their eyes had seen.
Jesus walked out along the shore;
The people pressed against him more.
To Levi, son of Alphaeus,
Sitting in his rev’nue office,
Levi, he said, Now follow me.
So Levi stood, and came away.
All of the local riff-raff came;
They sat to eat and drink with him.
Then those who thought he was a threat
Said, See who he invites to eat!
And Jesus, when he heard them carp,
Said, I share all my bread and cup,
So would you have the healthy healed?
It is for sinners I am called.
Many were the authorities
Who questioned why he did all this.
They would their self-denial boast,
And asked him why he did not fast.
Jesus answered, My time is short.
Soon, the wedding guests will depart;
Now that the bridegroom’s in their midst,
It is not seemly if they fast.
And soon enough the day will come
When I will say goodbye to them.
New cloth cannot repair the old
Nor agèd wineskins new wine hold:
So if you would this teaching hear,
Renew your spirit, and prepare.
3.
Once in the synagogue they found
A man who had a withered hand.
Elders watched Jesus, one and all,
So they would know if he could heal.
Jesus said to th’ afflicted man,
Stretch out your hand, and healed him then.
He grieved the hardness of their minds
Who tried to stop his healing hands:
The sabbath makes not good, nor ill,
’Tis better to save life than kill.
And they were silent, yet did plan
How to bring low the Son of Man.
Jesus led the whole crowd away,
Down to the beach along the sea,
Where people from Judea came,
From round about Jerusalem,
From Jordan, Tyre and Sidon, too,
Seeking to see what he would do.
However many there he healed,
Yet more reached out, their voices called,
As out the unclean spirits came,
They all fell down and spoke his name:
O Jesus, Jesus, Son of God!
He told them, Speak not this aloud.
Up on the mountain he would climb,
Calling his foll’wers after him,
The twelve who would go out to preach,
To cast out demons, heal, and teach:
Simon Peter, and James and John,
(The one whom he named “Thunder’s Son”),
And Andrew, and Bartholomew,
Philip, Matthew, and Thomas too,
And James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon of Canaan, and Thaddaeus,
And last, Judas Iscariot,
Who with th’ authorities did plot.
Then Jesus left. The crowd was great,
And there was nothing there to eat.
Some said, He must have lost his mind!Have you performed in front of an audience?I present parts of the gospel epics in church and temple services, and sing some excerpts using Anglican chant tunes with a quartet formed for the purpose.
Your musical influences
These productions are much more about the words than the music. I invite all musicians to consider ways to create music that enhances the meaning of these texts. My policy concerning extension of rights for these words is quite liberal and if you would like to explore ways to collaborate you should contact me directly.What equipment do you use?
I use royalty free music from internet sources.Anything else?
The brain is wider than the sky...
Madison, NJ
USA
ID
392533
Contact
Sorry, this artist currently doesn't accept email messages.
Comments (2)
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Hi there! I just checked out your track Song of Mark. I really adore that tone. It has been put together very well. I can see that I will have to keep returning to see what else your doing. Cheers from Dunedin, New Zealand.
