MarkChapter 6

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¹Jesus left there and went to his hometown. His disciples went with him. ²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many people who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What is this wisdom he has been given? How can he do such miracles? ³Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't he Mary's son? Isn't he the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they were offended by him. ⁴Jesus said to them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown. His own relatives and his own family do not honor him." ⁵So he could not do any miracles there. He only put his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶He was amazed that they did not believe. Then Jesus went around from village to village, teaching the people. ⁷Jesus called the Twelve to him. He began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over unclean spirits. ⁸He told them to take nothing for the trip except a walking stick. They should take no bread, no bag, and no money in their belts. ⁹They could wear sandals, but they should not take an extra tunic. ¹⁰He told them, "When you go into a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place. This will be a witness against them." ¹²So they went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They drove out many demons. They also poured oil on many sick people and healed them. ¹⁴King Herod heard about this, because Jesus had become well known. Some people were saying, "John the Baptist has come back from the dead! That's why he has power to do miracles." ¹⁵Others said, "He is Elijah." Still others said, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets long ago." ¹⁶But when Herod heard about it, he said, "I cut off John's head. Now he has come back from the dead!" ¹⁷Herod himself had given orders to arrest John. He had John tied up and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias. She had been the wife of Herod's brother Philip, but Herod had married her. ¹⁸John had been telling Herod, "It is against the law for you to have your brother's wife!" ¹⁹So Herodias held a grudge against John. She wanted to kill him, but she could not. ²⁰Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a righteous and holy man. When Herod listened to John, he was very confused. Still, he liked to listen to him. ²¹Then Herodias got her chance. It was Herod's birthday. He gave a big dinner for his top officials, his army commanders, and the leading men of Galilee. ²²The daughter of Herodias came in and danced. She pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." ²³He even made a promise to her with an oath. "I'll give you anything you ask for, up to half my kingdom!" ²⁴She went out and asked her mother, "What should I ask for?" Her mother answered, "The head of John the Baptist." ²⁵Right away the girl hurried back to the king. "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter right now," she said. ²⁶The king was very sad. But he had made promises in front of his guests. So he did not want to say no to her. ²⁷So the king acted right away. He sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went to the prison and cut off John's head. ²⁸He brought the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. Then she gave it to her mother. ²⁹John's disciples heard about this. They came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. ³⁰The apostles came back and gathered around Jesus. They told him all they had done and taught. ³¹So many people were coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat. So Jesus said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place. Let's rest for a while." ³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a quiet place. ³³But many people saw them leaving and knew who they were. People from all the towns ran there on foot. They got there ahead of them. ³⁴Jesus stepped on shore and saw a large crowd. He felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. ³⁵By then it was already late in the day. So the disciples came to Jesus. "This is a lonely place," they said, "and it's already late. ³⁶Send the people away. Then they can go to the farms and villages around here. They can buy themselves something to eat." ³⁷But Jesus answered, "You give them something to eat." They asked him, "Should we go and spend 200 days' pay on bread to feed them all?"a ³⁸"Go and see how many loaves you have," he told them. They checked and said, "Five, and two fish." ³⁹Then Jesus told them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of 100 and groups of 50. ⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. Then he broke the loaves. He gave them to his disciples to hand out to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²They all ate and had plenty. ⁴³Then the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴The number of men who had eaten was 5,000. ⁴⁵Right away Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. He had them go on ahead of him to Bethsaida. Meanwhile, he sent the crowd away. ⁴⁶After he said goodbye to them, he went up on a mountain to pray. ⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was out in the middle of the sea. Jesus was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw that the disciples were working hard to row, because the wind was against them. Sometime between three and six in the morning, Jesus went out to them. He was walking on the sea. He was about to pass by them.b ⁴⁹But they saw him walking on the sea. They thought he was a ghost, and they screamed. ⁵⁰They all saw him and were terrified. But right away Jesus spoke to them. "Be brave! It is I. Don't be afraid." ⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind stopped. The disciples were completely amazed. ⁵²That was because they had not understood what the loaves meant. Their hearts had been made hard. ⁵³They went across the sea and came to land at Gennesaret. There they tied up the boat. ⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people knew who Jesus was. ⁵⁵They ran through that whole area. They carried sick people on mats to any place they heard he was. ⁵⁶He went into villages, towns, and the countryside. Everywhere he went, people laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak. And everyone who touched him was healed.