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Jesus called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority over all demons and power to cure diseases, 2 and He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them, “Take nothing for your journey: no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 And wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
7 When Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,he was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. 9 Herod said, “John I have beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he wanted to see Jesus.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all they had done. Then He took them with Him and withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out about it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the day, the Twelve came to Him and said, “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 “You give them something to eat,” He told them.
“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 (For about five thousand men were there.)
Jesus said to His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did this, and everyone sat down. 16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. Then the disciples gathered up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and only His disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
19 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has risen again.”
20 “But what about you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
21 Then Jesus strictly warned and instructed them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits his own self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and in the glory of His Father and of the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God.”
28 Now about eight days after this had been said, Jesus took with Him Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men talking with Him—Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory. They were speaking with Jesus about His death and departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Peter and those with him were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to Him, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he was said.
34 While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him!” 36 After the voice had finished speaking, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one in those days of anything they had seen.
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38 Just then a man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 Often a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it convulses him until he foams at the mouth. It is destroying him and hardly ever leaves him. 40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
41 Jesus replied, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was approaching, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
43 And they were all astonished at the majesty of God.
While everyone was marvelling at all that Jesus did, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was hidden from them so they could not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
46 An argument arose among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a small child and had him stand beside Him. 48 Then He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the greatest.”
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone casting out demons in Your name and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for he who is not against you is for you.”
51 When the time drew near for Jesus to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers on ahead of Him, who went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for Him. 53 But the people there did not welcome Him, because He was determined to go to Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked Jesus, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?”
55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
59 To another He said, “Follow Me.”
But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first go and say farewell to those at my house.”
62 But Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”