Mar 6 | LSB | STEP | And Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him.

Mark 6

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

1 And Jesus went out from there and *came into ^{▼▼Or His own part of the country}His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to this man, and such ^{▼▼Or works of power}miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is this man not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they were taking offense at Him. 4 And Jesus was saying to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in ^{▼▼Or his own part of the country}his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” 5 And He could do no ^{▼▼Or work of power}miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He was marveling at their unbelief.

And He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

7 And He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and was giving them authority over the unclean spirits; 8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only—no bread, no ^{▼▼Or knapsack, beggar’s bag}bag, no money in their belt— 9 but ^{▼▼Lit being shod with}to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two ^{▼▼Or inner garments}tunics.” 10 And He was saying to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^{▼▼Lit go out from there}leave town. 11 And any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust ^{▼▼Lit under your feet}off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” 12 And they went out and ^{▼▼Or proclaimed as a herald}preached that men should repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 And King Herod heard it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

17 For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 Now Herodias was holding a grudge against him and was wanting to put him to death and was not able; 20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; ^{▼▼Lit and}but he ^{▼▼Lit was hearing him gladly}used to enjoy listening to him. 21 And a strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his great men and ^{▼▼Military leader over 1,000 soldiers}military commanders and the leading men of Galilee; 22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^{▼▼Lit those who reclined at the table with him}his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of ^{▼▼Lit those reclining at the table}his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 And when his disciples heard this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

30 And the apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

33 And the people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 And when Jesus went ^{▼▼Lit out}ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 And when it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and began saying, “ ^{▼▼Lit The}This place is desolate and it is already quite late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves ^{▼▼Lit what they may eat}something to eat.” 37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^{▼▼A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wage}denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” 38 And He *said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they *said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 And He commanded them all to ^{▼▼Lit recline}sit down by ^{▼▼Lit dining-groups}groups on the green grass. 40 And they ^{▼▼Lit reclined}sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves. And He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them, and He divided up the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. 44 And there were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

45 And immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 And after bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

47 And when it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 And seeing them ^{▼▼Lit harassed in rowing}straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the ^{▼▼3-6 a.m.}fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He was intending to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were ^{▼▼Or troubled}terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were ^{▼▼Lit utterly amazed in themselves}utterly amazed, 52 for they ^{▼▼Lit had not understood on the basis of}had not gained any insight about the loaves, but their ^{▼▼Or mind}heart was hardened.

Many Healed at Gennesaret

53 And when they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole region and began to carry here and there on their mats those who were sick, to ^{▼▼Lit where they were hearing that He was}the place they heard He was. 56 And wherever He was entering villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces, and pleading with Him that they might just touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were being ^{▼▼Or cured}saved from their sicknesses.