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Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^1 (a)He went away from there and came to ^(b)his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ² And ^(c)on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and ^(d)many 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? ^3 (e)Is not this ^(f)the carpenter, the son of Mary and ^(g)brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And ^(h)they took offense at him. ⁴ And Jesus said to them, ⁽ⁱ⁾"A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." ⁵ And ^(j)he could do no mighty work there, except that ^(k)he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And ^(l)he marveled because of their unbelief.

^(m)And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^7 (n)And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to ^(o)wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^{[a] 10} And he said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^(p)shake off the dust that is on your feet ^(q)as a testimony against them." ^12 (r)So they went out and ^(s)proclaimed ^(t)that people should repent. ^13 (u)And they cast out many demons and ^(v)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (w)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[b] name had become known. Some^[c] said, ^(x)"John the Baptist^[d] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him." ^15 (y)But others said, "He is Elijah." And others said, "He is ^(z)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." ^17 (aa)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(ab)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (ac)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(ad)"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(ae)feared 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 ^(af)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(ag)on his birthday ^(ah)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For 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." ²³ And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(ai)up to half of my kingdom." ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, "For what should I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." ²⁵ And 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." ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[e] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his ^(aj)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (ak)(al)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and ^(am)they had no leisure even to eat. ^32 (an)And they went away in ^(ao)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going and ^(ap)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When he went ashore he ^(aq)saw a great crowd, and ^(ar)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36 (as)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." ³⁷ But he answered them, ^(at)"You give them something to eat." And ^(au)they said to him, ^(av)"Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[f] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" ³⁸ And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, ^(aw)"Five, and two fish." ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(ax)looked up to heaven and ^(ay)said 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. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (az)Immediately he ^(ba)made his disciples get into ^(bb)the boat and go before him to the other side, ^(bc)to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, ^(bd)he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ And when ^(be)evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about ^(bf)the fourth watch of the night^[g] he came to them, walking on the sea. ^(bg)He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰ for they all saw him and ^(bh)were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ^(bi)"Take heart; it is I. ^(bj)Do not be afraid." ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for ^(bk)they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts ^(bl)were hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^53 (bm)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(bn)Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^(bo)recognized him ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^(bp)the sick people ^(bq)on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^(br)they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ^(bs)the fringe of his garment. And ^(bt)as many as touched it were made well.