Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

¹mAnd he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ²nand he sent them out to oproclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ³pAnd he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, qno staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.1 ⁴And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town rshake off the dust from your feet sas a testimony tagainst them.” ⁶uAnd they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

⁷vNow wHerod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that xJohn had been raised from the dead, ⁸xby some that Elijah had appeared, and xby others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And yhe sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰On their return zthe apostles told him all that they had done. aAnd he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he bwelcomed them and cspoke to them of the kingdom of God and ccured those who had need of healing. ¹²Now dthe day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, e“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³But he said to them, f“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than gfive loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, hhe looked up to heaven and isaid a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

¹⁸jNow it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹And they answered, k“John the Baptist. But others say, lElijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, m“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

²¹nAnd he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²osaying, p“The Son of Man must qsuffer many things and rbe rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on sthe third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him tdeny himself and utake up his cross vdaily and follow me. ²⁴For uwhoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵wFor what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For xwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ywhen he comes in zhis glory and the glory of the Father and of athe holy angels. ²⁷But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not btaste death cuntil they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

²⁸dNow about eight days after these sayings he took with him ePeter and John and James and fwent up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was galtered, and hhis clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,2 which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those who were with him iwere heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake jthey saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ktents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—lnot knowing what he said. ³⁴As he was saying these things, ma cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And ma voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, nmy Chosen One;3 olisten to him!” ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. pAnd they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

³⁷qOn the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for rhe is my only child. ³⁹And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but sthey could not.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “O tfaithless and twisted generation, uhow long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus vrebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and wgave him back to his father. ⁴³And all were astonished at xthe majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

yBut while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus4 said zto his disciples, ⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: zThe Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵aBut they did not understand this saying, and bit was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

⁴⁶cAn argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸and said to them, d“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and dwhoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ehe who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

⁴⁹fJohn answered, “Master, we saw someone gcasting out demons in your name, and hwe tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ifor the one who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹When the days drew near for jhim to be taken up, khe set his face lto go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And mhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of nthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³But othe people did not receive him, because phis face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell qfire to come down from heaven and consume them?”5 ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them.6 ⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷As they were going ralong the road, ssomeone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus7 said to him, “Leave tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and uproclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, vbut let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, w“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”