Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹bHe went away from there and came to chis hometown, and his disciples followed him. ²And don the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and emany who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? ³fIs not this gthe carpenter, the son of Mary and hbrother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ithey took offense at him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, j“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵And khe could do no mighty work there, except that lhe laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶And mhe marveled because of their unbelief.

nAnd he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

⁷oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹but to pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.1 ¹⁰And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, qshake off the dust that is on your feet ras a testimony against them.” ¹²sSo they went out and tproclaimed uthat people should repent. ¹³tAnd they cast out many demons and vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

¹⁴wKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus'2 name had become known. Some3 said, x“John the Baptist4 has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵xBut others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ya prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ¹⁷zFor it was Herod who had sent and seized John and abound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸zFor John had been saying to Herod, b“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰for Herod cfeared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he dheard him gladly.

²¹But an opportunity came when Herod eon his birthday fgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, gup to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's5 head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his hdisciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

³⁰ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and kthey had no leisure even to eat. ³²lAnd they went away in mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and nrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When he went ashore he osaw a great crowd, and ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ³⁶pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But he answered them, q“You give them something to eat.” And rthey said to him, s“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii6 worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, t“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ulooked up to heaven and vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵wImmediately he xmade his disciples get into ythe boat and go before him to the other side, zto Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶And after he had taken leave of them, ahe went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷And when bevening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about bthe fourth watch of the night7 he came to them, walking on the sea. cHe meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰for they all saw him and dwere terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, e“Take heart; it is I. eDo not be afraid.” ⁵¹And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵²for fthey did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts gwere hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

⁵³hWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at iGennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately jrecognized him ⁵⁵and ran about the whole region and began to bring kthe sick people lon their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, mthey laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even nthe fringe of his garment. And oas many as touched it were made well.