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¹ Jesus[fn] left that place and went back to his hometown,[fn] and his disciples followed him.[xr] ² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. They said, "Where did this man get all these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands![xr] ³ This is the builder,[fn] the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, isn't it? His sisters are here with us, aren't they?" And they were offended by him.[xr] ⁴ Jesus was telling them, "A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home."[xr] ⁵ He couldn't perform a miracle there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.[xr] ⁶ He was utterly amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around to the villages and continued teaching.[xr]

⁷ He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.[xr] ⁸ He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick - no bread, no traveling bag, nothing in their moneybag. ⁹ They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt.[fn][xr] ¹⁰ He told them repeatedly, "Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place.[xr] ¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and the people[fn] refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them."[xr] ¹² So they went and preached that people[fn] should repent. ¹³ They also kept driving out many demons and pouring oil on many who were sick and healing them.[xr]

¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, because Jesus'[fn] name had become well-known. He was[fn] saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead! That's why these miracles are at work in him."[xr] ¹⁵ Others were saying, "He is Elijah." Still others were saying, "He is a prophet like one of the other[fn] prophets."[xr] ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!"[xr] ¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men who arrested[fn] John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. For Herod[fn] had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, "It's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."[xr] ¹⁹ So Herodias bore a grudge against John[fn] and wanted to kill him. But she couldn't do it ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John. He knew that John[fn] was a righteous and holy man, and so he protected him. Whenever he listened to John,[fn] he did much of what he said.[fn] In fact, he liked listening to him.[xr] ²¹ An opportunity came during Herod's birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee.[xr] ²² When the daughter of Herodias[fn] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." ²³ He swore with an oath to her, "I'll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom."[xr] ²⁴ So she went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" Her mother[fn] replied, "The head of John the Baptist." ²⁵ Immediately the girl[fn] hurried back to the king with her request, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." ²⁶ The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her.[xr] ²⁷ So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John's[fn] head. The soldier[fn] went and beheaded him in prison. ²⁸ Then he brought John's[fn] head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John's[fn] disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.

³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.[xr] ³¹ He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while." For so many people were coming and going that they[fn] didn't even have time to eat.[xr] ³² So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves.[xr] ³³ But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴ When he got out of the boat,[fn] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.[xr] ³⁵ When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and it's already late.[xr] ³⁶ Send the crowds[fn] away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat." ³⁷ But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Should we go and buy 200 denarii[fn] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"[xr] ³⁸ He asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see." They found out and told him, "Five loaves[fn] and two fish."[xr] ³⁹ Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people.[fn] He also divided the two fish among them all.[xr] ⁴² All of them ate and were filled. ⁴³ Then the disciples[fn] picked up twelve baskets full of leftover bread and fish. ⁴⁴ There were 5,000 men who had eaten the loaves.

⁴⁵ Jesus[fn] immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away.[xr] ⁴⁶ After saying goodbye to them, he went up on a hillside to pray. ⁴⁷ When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land.[xr] ⁴⁸ He saw that they were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn[fn] he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them,[xr] ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. ⁵⁰ All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he said to them, "Have courage! It is I. Stop being afraid!" ⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples[fn] were utterly astounded, ⁵² for they didn't understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.[xr] ⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat.[xr] ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus.[fn] ⁵⁵ They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their cots to any place where they heard he was. ⁵⁶ Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people[fn] would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and all who touched it were healed.[xr]