Mark Chapter 6    

¹And he departed from there and he came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
  ²And when the Sabbath had come he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who were listening to him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things?” And, “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are such miracles being done by his hands?
  ³Isn’t this the builder, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they were offended because of him.
  ⁴And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own house.”
  ⁵And he was not able to do any miracles there, except that he healed a few sick people after laying his hands on them.
  ⁶And he was amazed because of their unbelief. And he went around the villages in a circuit, teaching.
 

⁷And he called the Twelve to himself and began to send them out two by two. And he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
  ⁸And he instructed them that they should not take anything for their journey except only a staff; no bread, no traveler’s bag, no money in their belt,
  ⁹and to not put on two tunics,^a but to wear sandals.”
  ¹⁰And he said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from that area.
  ¹¹And whatever place does not receive you or listen to you, when you leave that area, shake off the dust that is under your feet as a testimony against them.”
  ¹²And they went out and preached that people should repent.
  ¹³And they cast out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
 

¹⁴And King Herod heard about Jesus (for his name had become known). And some people were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from among the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
  ¹⁵But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets.”
  ¹⁶But when Herod heard these words, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
 

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent for and arrested John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod^b had married her.
  ¹⁸For John had told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
  ¹⁹And Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to,
  ²⁰for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and so he kept him safe. And when he listened to him, he was greatly perplexed, but he still liked to listen to him.
 

²¹But an opportune day came when Herod held a banquet on his birthday for his high-ranking officials and the military commanders and the most important men of Galilee.
  ²²And when the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those who reclined to eat with him. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.”
  ²³And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask from me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom.”
  ²⁴And she left the banquet and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
  ²⁵And immediately she hurried back to the king, and asked, saying, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter—right now!”
  ²⁶And the king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and those who were reclining to eat, he did not want to refuse her.
  ²⁷And immediately the king sent out an executioner and commanded him to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison
  ²⁸and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
  ²⁹And when his disciples heard about it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb.
 

³⁰And the apostles gathered together to Jesus, and they reported to him everything; all that they had done and all that they had taught.
  ³¹And he said to them, “Come away with me to a solitary place all by yourselves and rest a while” (for there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have a chance to eat).
  ³²And they went away by themselves in the boat to a solitary place.
  ³³And many saw them leaving and knew where they were going, and they ran there together on foot from all the cities and arrived before them.
  ³⁴And after he got out of the boat he saw a large crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
  ³⁵And when the hour grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place and the hour is now late.
  ³⁶Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
  ³⁷But he answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”^{c
  38}And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out, they said, “Five loaves, and two fish.”
  ³⁹And he commanded them to make everyone sit down in groups on the green grass.
  ⁴⁰And they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
  ⁴¹And he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he kept giving the loaves to the disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish among all the people.
  ⁴²And they all ate and were filled.
  ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces of bread and fish.
  ⁴⁴And there were 5,000 men who ate [the loaves].
 

⁴⁵And immediately he made his disciples enter into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, toward Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away.
  ⁴⁶And after he said goodbye to them, he departed to the mountain to pray.
  ⁴⁷And when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake^d and he was alone on the land.
  ⁴⁸And seeing them struggling as they rowed because the wind was against them, he came to them at about the fourth watch of the night^e walking on the lake, and he intended to pass by near them.
  ⁴⁹When they saw him walking on the lake, they supposed that he was a ghost, and cried out,
  ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke with them, and said to them, “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”
  ⁵¹And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed among themselves
  ⁵²because they had not gained any insight from the miracle of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
 

⁵³And when they had crossed over the lake, they came to land at Gennesaret and tied the boat to the shore.
  ⁵⁴And when they had come out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him
  ⁵⁵and ran around that whole region and began to carry on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard he was.
  ⁵⁶And wherever he went, whether into villages or into cities or into the countryside, they laid those who were sick in the marketplaces and begged him to let them touch even the fringe of his garment, and everyone who touched him was healed.