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Teaching at Nazareth

^1 (C1)Jesus left there and came to ^(C2)His hometown Nazareth; and His disciples followed Him. ^(VR1)2 When the Sabbath came, He began ^(C1)to teach in the synagogue; and ^(C2)many who listened to Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things this knowledge and spiritual insight? What is this wisdom this confident understanding of the Scripture that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?³ "Is this not ^(C1)the carpenter, ^(F1)(C2)the son of Mary, and the brother of ^(F2)James and Joses and ^(F3)Judas and Simon? Are ^(C3)His sisters not here with us?" And they were deeply ^(C4)offended by Him and their disapproval blinded them to the fact that He was anointed by God as the Messiah.⁴ Jesus said to them, "^(C1)A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in ^(C2)his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household."⁵ And He could not do a miracle there at all because of their unbelief except that He ^(C1)laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

⁶ He wondered at their unbelief. ^(C1)And He was going around in the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

^7 (C1)And ^(C2)He called the twelve disciples and began to send them out as His special messengers ^(C3)two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.^8 (C1)He told them to take nothing for the journey except a mere walking stick—no bread, no traveler's bag, no money in their belts—⁹ but to wear sandals; and He told them not to wear ^(F1)two tunics.¹⁰ And He told them, "Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that town.¹¹ "Any place that does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, ^(F1)(C1)shake the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them breaking all ties with them because they rejected My message." ^(VR1)12 So ^(C1)they went out and preached that men should repent that is, think differently, recognize sin, turn away from it, and live changed lives.¹³ And they were casting out many demons and ^(C1)were anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

John's Fate Recalled

^14 (C1)King Herod Antipas heard about this, for Jesus' name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, "^(C2)John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him."¹⁵ But others were saying, "He is ^(F1)(C1)Elijah!" And others were saying, "It is ^(C2)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!"

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent guards and had John arrested and shackled in prison because of ^(F1)(C1)Herodias, the wife of his half- brother Philip, because he (Herod) had married her. ^(VR1)18 For John had been saying to Herod, "^(C1)It is not lawful under Mosaic Law for you to have your brother's wife." ^{(VR1)19 (C1)}Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not,²⁰ because ^(C1)Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he continually kept him safe. When he heard John speak, he was very perplexed; but he enjoyed listening to him.²¹ But an opportune time finally came for Herodias. Herod on his birthday ^(C1)gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and ^(F1)military commanders and the leading men ^(C2)of Galilee.²² Now Salome the daughter of ^(C1)Herodias came in and danced for the men. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the ^(F1)girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."²³ And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; ^(F1)up to ^(C1)half of my kingdom." ^(VR1)24 She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And Herodias replied, "The head of John the Baptist!"²⁵ And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!"²⁶ The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests who might have regarded him as weak, he was unwilling to break his word and refuse her.²⁷ So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John's head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison,²⁸ and brought back 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 John's body and laid it in a tomb.

Five Thousand Fed

^30 (C1)The ^(C2)apostles who had been sent out on a mission gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught.³¹ He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while"—for there were many people who were continually coming and going, and ^(C1)they could not even find time to eat.^32 (C1)And they went away by themselves in ^(C2)the boat to a secluded place. ^(VR1)33 Many people saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the surrounding cities, and got there ahead of them.³⁴ When Jesus went ashore, He ^(C1)saw a large crowd waiting, and He was moved with compassion for them because ^(C2)they were like sheep without a shepherd lacking guidance; and He began to teach them many things.³⁵ When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is an isolated place, and it is already late;³⁶ send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."³⁷ But He replied, "You give them something to eat!" ^(C1)And they asked Him, "Shall we go and buy 200 ^(F1)(C2)denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" ^(VR1)38 He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five loaves, and two fish."³⁹ Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots.⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and ^(C1)said a blessing of praise and thanksgiving to the Father. Then He broke the loaves and repeatedly gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all.⁴² They all ate and were satisfied.⁴³ And the disciples picked up twelve full ^(C1)baskets of the broken pieces of the loaves, and of the fish.⁴⁴ Those who ate the loaves were ^(C1)five thousand men not counting the women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (C1)Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into ^(C2)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to ^(C3)Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd. ^(VR1)46 And after He ^(C1)said goodbye to them, He went ^(C2)to the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land.⁴⁸ Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the ^(C1)fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And acted as if He intended to pass by them. ^(VR1)49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out in horror;⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, "^(C1)Take courage! It is I (I AM)! ^(C2)Stop being afraid." ^(VR1)51 Then He got into ^(C1)the boat with them, and the wind ceased as if exhausted by its own activity; and they were completely overwhelmed,⁵² because ^(C1)they had not understood the miracle of the loaves how it revealed the power and deity of Jesus; but in fact their heart ^(C2)was hardened being oblivious and indifferent to His amazing works.

Healing at Gennesaret

^53 (C1)When they had crossed over the sea, they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore.⁵⁴ They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him,⁵⁵ and ran throughout that surrounding countryside and began to carry around on their mats those who were sick, to any place where they heard He was.⁵⁶ And wherever He came into villages, or cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places and pleading with Him to allow them just to ^(C1)touch ^(C2)the fringe (tassel with a blue cord) of His robe; and all who touched it were healed.