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¹Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown.

²The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”

³Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

⁴Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”

⁵And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.

⁷And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.

⁸He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick — no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.

⁹He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

¹⁰“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town.

¹¹But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

¹²So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.

¹³And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

¹⁴Herod Antipas, the king, soon heard about Jesus, because everyone was talking about him. Some were saying, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles.”

¹⁵Others said, “He’s the prophet Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet like the other great prophets of the past.”

¹⁶When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.”

¹⁷For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her.

¹⁸John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless,

²⁰for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.

²¹Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.

²²Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.”

²³He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!”

²⁴She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!”

²⁵So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!”

²⁶Then the king deeply regretted what he had said; but because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her.

²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier beheaded John in the prison,

²⁸brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother.

²⁹When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.

³⁰The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.

³¹Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

³²So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.

³³But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.

³⁴Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.

³⁶Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

³⁷But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

³⁸“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

³⁹Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.

⁴²They all ate as much as they wanted,

⁴³and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.

⁴⁴A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.

⁴⁵Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.

⁴⁶After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

⁴⁷Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.

⁴⁸He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them,

⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost.

⁵⁰They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here! ”

⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed,

⁵²for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

⁵³After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore

⁵⁴and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once,

⁵⁵and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶Wherever he went — in villages, cities, or the countryside — they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

¹One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

²They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.

³(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.

⁴Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to — such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. )

⁵So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

⁶Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

⁷Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

⁸For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

⁹Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

¹⁰For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’

¹¹But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’

¹²In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.

¹³And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

¹⁴Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand.

¹⁵It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart. ”

¹⁶

¹⁷Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used.

¹⁸“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?

¹⁹Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

²⁰And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.

²¹For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

²²adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

²³All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

²⁴Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.

²⁵Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit,

²⁶and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia,

²⁷Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children — my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

²⁹“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

³¹Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.

³²A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

³³Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.

³⁴Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!”

³⁵Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

³⁶Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.

³⁷They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”