Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples

9 Jesus called together the 12 disciples. He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to heal sicknesses. ² Then he sent them out to announce God’s kingdom and to heal those who were sick. ³ He told them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Do not take a walking stick or a bag. Do not take any bread, money or extra clothes. ⁴ When you are invited into a house, stay there until you leave town. ⁵ Some people may not welcome you. If they don’t, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet. This will be a witness against the people living there.” ⁶ So the 12 disciples left. They went from village to village. They announced the good news and healed people everywhere.

⁷ Now Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything that was going on. He was bewildered, because some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. ⁸ Others were saying that Elijah had appeared. Still others were saying that a prophet of long ago had come back to life. ⁹ But Herod said, “I had John’s head cut off. So who is it that I hear such things about?” And he tried to see Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ The disciples returned. They told Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him. They went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds learned about it and followed Jesus. He welcomed them and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. He also healed those who needed to be healed.

¹² Late in the afternoon the 12 disciples came to him. They said, “Send the crowd away. They can go to the nearby villages and countryside. There they can find food and a place to stay. There is nothing here.”

¹³ Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.”

The disciples answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. We would have to go and buy food for all this crowd.” ¹⁴ About 5,000 men were there.

But Jesus said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.” ¹⁵ The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. ¹⁶ Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke them into pieces. Then he gave them to the disciples to give to the people. ¹⁷ All of them ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces.