"They will handle snakes"

How should we tell whether or not Christ promises that all believers will be accompanied by signs like being able to take up snakes in their hands and drink deadly things without being harmed, to heal sick people and speak in new languages?

Sadly, almost all Bible versions dangerously and dubiously present Christ as making such promises, even though it creates self-contradiction in the New Testament (where we also read that not all believers speak in new languages or heal, 1 Cor. 12).

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18, ESV)

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (AKJV)

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands,^* and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ” (NRSV *other ancient authorities lack in their hands)

But the Ancient Greek can instead be translated without contradiction.

"Now, signs will accompany them having been faithful to these things. In the name of Mine they will cast out demons, they will speak by new languages, and in the hands they will take up snakes, and if they drink something deadly, no it will not harm them; upon infirm people they will put hands and they will keep well." (CFB)

Importance: The dominant translation tradition opens the door for the tragic and possibly entirely wrong practice of testing Christian belief by handling poisonous snakes, or insisting on healing without medical doctors or medicines (cp. Ecclesiasticus / Ben Sira 38:1-15), etc.

Evidence in favour of the proposed solution:

(1) The New Testament repeatedly describes precisely these miraculous signs accompanying Christ’s apostles.

(2) The logic of the text fits with the rest of the New Testament: God does miracles so that people will believe God’s messengers.

(3) That logic---of apostles being confirmed and aided by God’s provision of miraculous signs---is explicitly described in the immediately following text (Mark 16:20).

ESV: ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

AKJV: Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

NRSV: the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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