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Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^1 (a)And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ^2 (b)and he sent them out to ^(c)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ^3 (d)And he said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, ^(e)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^{[a] 4} And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(f)shake off the dust from your feet ^(g)as a testimony ^(h)against them." ^6 (i)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

^7 (j)Now ^(k)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(l)John had been raised from the dead, ^8 (m)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ⁽ⁿ⁾by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And ^(o)he sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(p)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(q)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(r)welcomed them and ^(s)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(t)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(u)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(v)"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." ¹³ But he said to them, ^(w)"You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than ^(x)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(y)he looked up to heaven and ^(z)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And 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

^18 (aa)Now 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?" ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(ab)"John the Baptist. But others say, ^(ac)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen." ²⁰ Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, ^(ad)"The Christ of God."

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (ae)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ^22 (af)saying, ^(ag)"The Son of Man must ^(ah)suffer many things and ^(ai)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(aj)the third day be raised."

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³ And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him ^(ak)deny himself and ^(al)take up his cross ^(am)daily and follow me. ²⁴ For ^(an)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ^25 (ao)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For ^(ap)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(aq)when he comes in ^(ar)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(as)the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(at)taste death ^(au)until they see the kingdom of God."

The Transfiguration

^28 (av)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(aw)Peter and John and James and ^(ax)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(ay)altered, and ^(az)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[b] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him ^(ba)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(bb)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(bc)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"—^(bd)not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, ^(be)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And ^(bf)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, ^(bg)my Chosen One;^{[c] (bh)}listen to him!" ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(bi)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

^37 (bj)On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^(bk)he is my only child. ³⁹ And 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. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^(bl)they could not." ⁴¹ Jesus answered, "O ^(bm)faithless and twisted generation, ^(bn)how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." ⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^(bo)rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^(bp)gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astonished at ^(bq)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(br)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[d] said ^(bs)to his disciples, ⁴⁴ "Let these words sink into your ears: ^(bt)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men." ^45 (bu)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(bv)it 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?

^46 (bw)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(bx)"Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(by)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(bz)he who is least among you all is the one who is great."

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

^49 (ca)John answered, "Master, we saw someone ^(cb)casting out demons in your name, and ^(cc)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us." ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him, ^(cd)for the one who is not against you is for you."

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for ^(ce)him to be taken up, ^(cf)he set his face ^(cg)to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And ^(ch)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^(ci)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But ^(cj)the people did not receive him, because ^(ck)his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell ^(cl)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"^{[e] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^{[f] 56} And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(cm)along the road, ^(cn)someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." ⁵⁸ And 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." ⁵⁹ To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[g] said to him, "Leave ^(co)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(cp)proclaim the kingdom of God." ⁶¹ Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, ^(cq)but let me first say farewell to those at my home." ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(cr)"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."