Mark 16:9-20 — the ending that isn't in the oldest copies
Whether Mark 16:9-20 is original is unresolved in this packet: reading A ends at ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ in 16:8, while reading B adds 16:9-20. The packet does not say why the two oldest complete Bibles stop there.
What the APB prints.
Every witness, on the record.
What a blind committee did here.
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.
The committee record marks the pericope audit as “clean” and supplies no rationale note for this crux. In the APB, Mark 16:8 first ends with fear and silence, then continues: “Then they briefly proclaimed all the things commanded to those about Peter.” It also prints a further statement about Jesus sending out preaching of eternal salvation.
The case for each reading.
If Mark ends at 16:8
Reading A takes ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ as Mark’s ending: the women flee, say nothing, and are afraid. The packet identifies Codex Sinaiticus & Codex Vaticanus as the two oldest complete Bibles and says both stop at verse 8. It further notes that Vaticanus leaves a blank column. NA28 likewise ends its text at 16:8 and prints 16:9-20 double-bracketed as an early addition. The apparatus distinguishes γὰρ with WH, Treg, and NA28 in its first line, while its second line gives γάρ with WH and NA28 before listing the added verses. On this reading, the abruptness is not removed: Mark ends mid-scene with fear.
If the twelve verses belong
Reading B treats 16:9-20 as part of the Gospel’s text. RP prints verses 9–20 as text, and the raw apparatus lists “+ 9–20 Treg RP.” Those verses supply what the shorter ending does not: appearances, signs, and the ascension. The packet also reports “+ Intermediate ending and 9–20 NIV,” showing that the material after verse 8 was transmitted in more than one form. The stated difference is chronological within the tradition: twelve further verses arrive later in the tradition, while the two oldest complete Bibles end at verse 8. Reading B therefore presents a fuller conclusion, even as the packet preserves the evidence for the shorter one.
The packet leaves unresolved whether the shorter ending alone or the twelve verses belongs with Mark, and it does not explain why the two oldest complete Bibles end at 16:8. The difference changes whether the Gospel includes appearances, signs, and the ascension in this location. The packet does not establish that any doctrine rests on this variant; doctrines commonly draw on many passages.
More places where the manuscripts argue.
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.
Weigh it yourself.
The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.