Chapter 6

1Jesus left there and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him.

2On the Sabbath, the Jewish weekly day of rest, Jesus began teaching in the synagogue, the community’s place for worship and instruction. Many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom he has been given? How are such miracles being done through his hands?

3Isn’t he the craftsman, Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Don’t his sisters live here among us?” So they rejected him.

4Jesus said to them, “A prophet is treated without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household.”

5He could not perform any miracle there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

6He was amazed that they refused to trust him. Then he went around the surrounding villages teaching.

7Jesus called his twelve closest disciples to him and began sending them out in pairs. He gave them authority over evil spirits

8and instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick—no bread, traveling bag, or money in their belts.

9They were to wear sandals but not take an extra shirt.

10Jesus told them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place.

11If any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave and shake its dust from beneath your feet. This will be a sign to the people there that they rejected your message.”

12So the disciples went out and announced that people needed to change how they thought and lived.

13They drove out many demons, put oil on many sick people, and healed them.

14King Herod heard about Jesus because his name had become widely known. Some people were saying, “John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”

15Others said, “He is Elijah.” Still others said, “He is a prophet like one of the prophets of long ago.”

16But when Herod heard these reports, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

17Herod himself had ordered John’s arrest. He had John chained and put in prison because Herod had married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

18John had been telling Herod, “You are not allowed to have your brother’s wife.”

19Herodias therefore held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not.

20Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John did what was right and was devoted to God. So Herod kept him safe. Whenever he listened to John, he became deeply confused, yet he enjoyed hearing him.

21Herodias finally got her opportunity on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a banquet for his high officials, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee.

22Herodias’s own daughter came in and danced. Her performance pleased Herod and his dinner guests, so the king told the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.”

23He swore to her, “Whatever you ask me for, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

24The girl went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptizer.”

25The girl immediately hurried back to the king and said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a serving dish right now.”

26The king became deeply distressed. But because of the promises he had sworn in front of his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.

27The king immediately sent one of his guards and ordered him to bring John’s head. The guard went and beheaded John in the prison,

28brought his head on a serving dish, and gave it to the girl. The girl then gave it to her mother.

29When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came, took his body, and placed it in a tomb.

30The twelve disciples who had been sent out gathered around Jesus and reported everything they had done and taught.

31Jesus told them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a little while.” So many people were coming and going that they did not even have time to eat.

32So they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.

33But many people saw them leaving and recognized them. People ran there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

34When Jesus came ashore, he saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35By then it was already late. Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “This place is remote, and it is already very late.

36Send the people away so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37But Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread—roughly two hundred days’ pay—and give it to them to eat?”

38Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” After finding out, they said, “Five loaves and two fish.”

39Then Jesus instructed the disciples to have everyone sit down in groups on the green grass.

40The people sat in orderly groups that looked like rows of garden beds, with groups of a hundred and groups of fifty.

41Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up toward heaven, and spoke a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and kept giving them to his disciples to serve to the people. He also divided the two fish among everyone.

42They all ate and had enough.

43Then the disciples collected twelve baskets full of broken pieces of bread and fish.

44Five thousand men had eaten the loaves.

45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him toward Bethsaida on the other side of the lake while he sent the crowd away.

46After saying goodbye to the crowd, Jesus went up on the mountain to pray.

47When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, while Jesus was alone on land.

48Jesus saw the disciples struggling to row because the wind was against them. Late in the night, sometime between about three and six in the morning, he came toward them, walking on the water. He meant to pass by them.

49When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and screamed,

50because they all saw him and were terrified. But Jesus immediately spoke to them: “Take courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

51Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely astonished

52because they had not understood what the loaves revealed. Their hearts were hardened, and their minds were closed to what it meant.

53After crossing the lake, they came to Gennesaret, a region along the shore, and tied up the boat.

54As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.

55They ran throughout that whole region and began carrying sick people on sleeping mats to wherever they heard Jesus was.

56Wherever Jesus went—villages, towns, or the countryside—people placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and everyone who touched it was healed.