Mar 6 | NASB1995 | STEP | Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown ; and His disciples followed Him.

1 ^aJesus went out from there and came into ^{▼▼ Or His own part of the country
,} ^cHis hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began ^dto teach in the synagogue; and the ^emany listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such ^{▼▼ Or works of power}miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 “Is not this ^gthe carpenter, ^hthe son of Mary, and brother of ^{▼▼ Or Jacob}James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not ^jHis sisters here with us?” And they took ^koffense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, ^l“A prophet is not without honor except in ^{▼▼ Or his own part of the country
,} ⁿhis 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 ^plaid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He wondered at their unbelief.

^qAnd He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

7 ^rAnd ^s He summoned the twelve and began to send them out ^tin pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; 8 ^uand He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff— no bread, no ^{▼▼ Or knapsack or 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 said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^{▼▼ Lit go out from there}leave town. 11 “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, ^zshake the dust ^{▼▼ Lit under your feet}off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” 12 ^abThey went out and ^{▼▼ Or proclaimed as a herald}preached that men should repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and ^adwere anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

14 ^aeAnd King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, ^af“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 ^agElijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^aha prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of 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 ^aiHerodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, ^aj“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 ^akHerodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; 20 for ^alHerod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept 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 A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday ^aogave a banquet for his lords and ^{▼▼ I.e. chiliarchs, in command of a thousand troops}military commanders and the leading men ^aqof Galilee; 22 and when the daughter of ^arHerodias 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 ^athalf 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 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 was unwilling to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded 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 When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

30 ^avThe ^awapostles 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 secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^axthey did not even have time to eat.) 32 ^ayThey went away in ^azthe boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Fed

33 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 When Jesus went ^{▼▼ Lit out}ashore, He ^bbsaw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ^bcthey were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, ^{▼▼ 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 them, “You give them something to eat!” ^bf And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^{▼▼ The denarius was equivalent to one day’s wage
,} ^bhdenarii 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 groups on the green grass. 40 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 ^bkblessed 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 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up twelve full ^blbaskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. 44 There were ^bmfive thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 ^bnImmediately Jesus made His disciples get into ^bothe boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to ^bpBethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After ^bqbidding them farewell, He left ^brfor the mountain to pray.

47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them ^{▼▼ Lit harassed in rowing}straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the ^{▼▼ I.e. 3-6 a.m.
,} ^bufourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed 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, ^bw“Take courage; it is I, ^bxdo not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into ^bythe boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for ^bzthey ^{▼▼ Lit had not understood on the basis of}had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but ^{▼▼ Or their mind was closed, made dull, or insensible}their heart ^ccwas hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

53 ^cdWhen they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to ^{▼▼ Lit where they were hearing that He was}the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just ^cftouch ^cgthe fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.