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A Prophet Without Honor
1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown,
accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he
began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were
amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked.
“What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these
remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the
carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James,
Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “Only in their own towns, among
their relatives and in their own homes are prophets without honor.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his
hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at
their lack of faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by
two and gave them authority over evil spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the
journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your
belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever
you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11
And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony
against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should
repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick
people with oil and healed them.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had
become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has
been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers
are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others
claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long
ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I
beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John
arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did
this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he
had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is
not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So
Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill
him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John
and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy
man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he
liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday
Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military
commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the
daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod
and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me
for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he
promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give
you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I
ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the
request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John
the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his
oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.
27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to
bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the
prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He
presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29
On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body
and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to
him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many
people were coming and going that they did not even have a
chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a
solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized
them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead
of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a
shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his
disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said,
“and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that
they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and
buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take almost a year’s wages!
Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to
them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and
see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit
down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in
groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves
and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks
and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to
set before the people. He also divided the two fish among
them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the
disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of
bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was
five thousand.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the
boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed
the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a
mountainside to pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the
lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples
straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.
Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the
lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him
walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried
out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is
I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with
them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their
hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of
the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout
that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever
they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages,
towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the
marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the
edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
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Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
