Beginning

Jesus Visits His Own Town, Nazareth ^(A)

6 Jesus went from the house of Jairus and came to His home town. His followers came after Him. ² On the Day of Rest He began to teach in the Jewish place of worship. Many people heard Him. They were surprised and wondered, saying, “Where did this Man get all this? What wisdom is this that has been given to Him? How can He do these powerful works with His hands? ³ Is He not a Man Who makes things from wood? Is He not the Son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Do not His sisters live here with us?” The people were ashamed of Him and turned away from Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “One who speaks for God is respected everywhere but in his own country and among his own family and in his own house.”

⁵ So Jesus could do no powerful works there. But He did put His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ He wondered because they had no faith. But He went around to the towns and taught as He went.

Jesus Calls Twelve Followers and Sends Them Out ^(B)

⁷ Jesus called the twelve followers to Him and began to send them out two by two. He gave them power over demons. ⁸ He told them to take nothing along with them but a walking stick. They were not to take a bag or food or money in their belts. ⁹ They were to wear shoes. They were not to take two coats.

¹⁰ He said to them, “Whatever house you go into, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ Whoever does not take you in or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet. By doing that, you will speak against them. For sure, I tell you, it will be easier for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day men stand before God and are judged than for that city.”

¹² Then they left. They preached that men should be sorry for their sins and turn from them. ¹³ They put out many demons. They poured oil on many people that were sick and healed them.

John the Baptist Is Put in Prison ^(C)

¹⁴ King Herod heard about Jesus because everyone was talking about Him. Some people said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why he is doing such powerful works.” ¹⁵ Other people said, “He is Elijah.” Others said, “He is one who speaks for God like one of the early preachers.” ¹⁶ When Herod heard this, he said, “It is John the Baptist, whose head I cut off. He has been raised from the dead.” ¹⁷ For Herod had sent men to take John and put him into prison. He did this because of his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of his brother Philip. ¹⁸ John the Baptist had said to Herod, “It is wrong for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ Herodias became angry with him. She wanted to have John the Baptist killed but she could not. ²⁰ Herod was afraid of John. He knew he was a good man and right with God, and he kept John from being hurt or killed. He liked to listen to John preach. But when he did, he became troubled.

John the Baptist Is Killed ^(D)

²¹ Then Herodias found a way to have John killed. Herod gave a big supper on his birthday. He asked the leaders of the country and army captains and the leaders of Galilee to come. ²² The daughter of Herodias came in and danced before them. This made Herod and his friends happy. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” ²³ Then he made a promise to her, “Whatever you ask for, I will give it to you. I will give you even half of my nation.” ²⁴ She went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?” The mother answered, “I want the head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ At once the girl went to Herod. She said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate now.”

²⁶ Herod was very sorry. He had to do it because of his promise and because of those who ate with him. ²⁷ At once he sent one of his soldiers and told him to bring the head of John the Baptist. The soldier went to the prison and cut off John’s head. ²⁸ He took John’s head in on a plate and gave it to the girl. The girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ John’s followers heard this. They went and took his body and buried it.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand ^(E)

³⁰ The followers of Jesus came back to Him. They told Jesus all they had done and taught. ³¹ He said to them, “Come away from the people. Be by yourselves and rest.” There were many people coming and going. They had had no time even to eat. ³² They went by themselves in a boat to a desert. ³³ Many people saw them leave and knew who they were. People ran fast from all the cities and got there first. ³⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, He saw many people gathered together. He had loving-pity for them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things.

³⁵ The day was almost gone. The followers of Jesus came to Him. They said, “This is a desert. It is getting late. ³⁶ Tell the people to go to the towns and villages and buy food for themselves.” ³⁷ He said to them, “Give them something to eat.” They said to Him, “Are we to go and buy many loaves of bread and give it to them?” ³⁸ He said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have here? Go and see.” When they knew, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.” ³⁹ Then He told them to have all the people sit down together in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of fifty people and in groups of one hundred people. ⁴¹ Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to the followers to set before the people. He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were filled. ⁴³ After that the followers picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ About five thousand men ate the bread.

Jesus Walks On The Water ^(F)

⁴⁵ At once Jesus had His followers get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to the town of Bethsaida. He sent the people away. ⁴⁶ When they were all gone, He went up to the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ It was evening. The boat was half-way across the sea. Jesus was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ He saw His followers were in trouble. The wind was against them. They were working very hard rowing the boat. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them walking on the sea. He would have gone past them. ⁴⁹ When the followers saw Him walking on the water, they thought it was a spirit and cried out with fear. ⁵⁰ For they all saw Him and were afraid. At once Jesus talked to them. He said, “Take hope. It is I, do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ He came over to them and got into the boat. The wind stopped. They were very much surprised and wondered about it. ⁵² They had not learned what they should have learned from the loaves because their hearts were hard.

People Are Healed at Gennesaret ^(G)

⁵³ Then they crossed the sea and came to the land of Gennesaret and went to shore. ⁵⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, the people knew Him at once. ⁵⁵ They ran through all the country bringing people who were sick on their beds to Jesus. ⁵⁶ Wherever He went, they would lay the sick people in the streets in the center of town where people gather. They begged Him that they might touch the bottom of His coat. Everyone who did was healed. This happened in the towns and in the cities and in the country where He went.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders ^(H)

7 The proud religious law-keepers and some of the teachers of the Law had come from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. ² They had seen some of His followers eat bread without washing their hands. ³ The proud religious law-keepers and all the Jews never eat until they wash their hands. They keep the teaching that was given to them by their early fathers. ⁴ When they come from the stores, they never eat until they wash. There are many other teachings they keep. Some are the washing of cups and pots and pans in a special way.

⁵ Then the proud religious law-keepers and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching given to them by their early fathers? They eat bread without washing their hands.” ⁶ He said to them, “Isaiah told about you who pretend to be someone you are not. Isaiah wrote, ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁷ Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men say must be done.’ ^{(I) 8} You put away the Laws of God and obey the laws made by men.”

⁹ Jesus said to them, “You put away the Laws of God but keep your own teaching. ¹⁰ Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother.’ ^(J) ‘He who curses his father and mother will be put to death!’ ^{(K) 11} But you say that it is right if a man does not help his father and mother because he says he has given to God what he could have given to them. ¹² You are not making him do anything for his father and mother. ¹³ You are putting away the Word of God to keep your own teaching. You are doing many other things like this.”

¹⁴ Jesus called the people to Him again. He said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand this. ¹⁵ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth from the outside that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out from the inside that makes him sinful. ¹⁶ You have ears, then listen!”

¹⁷ He went into the house away from all the people. His followers began to ask about the picture-story. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Do you not understand yet? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man cannot make him sinful? ¹⁹ It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then on out of his body.” In this way, He was saying that all food is clean. ²⁰ He said, “Whatever comes out of a man is what makes the man sinful. ²¹ From the inside, out of the heart of men come bad thoughts, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, killing other people, ²² stealing, wanting something that belongs to someone else, doing wrong, lying, having a desire for sex sins, having a mind that is always looking for sin, speaking against God, thinking you are better than you are and doing foolish things. ²³ All these bad things come from the inside and make the man sinful.”

Jesus Puts a Demon out of a Girl ^(L)

²⁴ Jesus went from their towns and cities to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and wanted to stay there without people knowing where He was. But He could not hide Himself. ²⁵ A woman who had a daughter with a demon heard of Him. She came and got down at His feet. ²⁶ The woman was not a Jew. She was from the country of Syrophenicia. She asked Jesus if He would put the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ Jesus said to her, “Let the children have what they want first. It is wrong to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces that fall from the children’s table.” ²⁹ He said to her, “Because of what you have said, go your way. The demon is gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ So she went to her house and found the demon was gone and her daughter was lying on the bed.

Jesus Heals the Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak Well

³¹ Then Jesus left the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He came back to the Sea of Galilee by way of the land of Decapolis. ³² They took a man to Him who could not hear or speak well. They asked Jesus to put His hand on him. ³³ Jesus took him away from the other people. He put His fingers into the man’s ears. He spit and put His finger on the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Then Jesus looked up to heaven and breathed deep within. He said to the man, “Be opened!” ³⁵ At once his ears were opened. His tongue was made loose and he spoke as other people. ³⁶ Then Jesus told them they should tell no one. The more He told them this, the more they told what He had done. ³⁷ They were very much surprised and wondered about it. They said, “He has done all things well. He makes those who could not hear so they can hear. He makes those who could not speak so they can speak.”