Mark

¹Jesus left there and went to his hometown, followed by his disciples.

²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get all this?" they asked. "What is this wisdom he has been given? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?"

³"Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

⁴Jesus said to them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home."

⁵He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

⁶He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then he went around teaching from village to village.

⁷He called the Twelve to him and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

⁸He instructed them to take nothing for their journey except a staff — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts.

⁹"Wear sandals but not an extra shirt."

¹⁰"Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town."

¹¹"And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."

¹²They went out and preached that people should repent.

¹³They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

¹⁴King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."

¹⁵Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the ancient prophets."

¹⁶But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

¹⁷Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married.

¹⁸For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

¹⁹So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to,

²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹Finally the right time came when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

²²When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you."

²³And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.

²⁵At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

²⁶The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.

²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison,

²⁸and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.

²⁹On hearing this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

³¹Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

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

³³But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns, getting there ahead of them.

³⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it is already very late."

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

³⁷But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Should we go and spend eight months' wages on bread and give it to them to eat?"

³⁸"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five — and two fish."

³⁹Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

⁴²They all ate and were satisfied.

⁴³The disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

⁴⁴The number of men who had eaten was five thousand.

⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

⁴⁷Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on land.

⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the sea, and was about to pass by them,

⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost and cried out,

⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

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

⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.

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

⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶Wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.