Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6 bHe went away from there and came to chis hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And don the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and emany who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 fIs not this gthe carpenter, the son of Mary and hbrother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ithey took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, j“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And khe could do no mighty work there, except that lhe laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And mhe marveled because of their unbelief.

nAnd he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

7 oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.1 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, qshake off the dust that is on your feet ras a testimony against them.” 12 sSo they went out and tproclaimed uthat people should repent. 13 tAnd they cast out many demons and vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 wKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus’2 name had become known. Some3 said, x“John the Baptist4 has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 xBut others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ya prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 zFor it was Herod who had sent and seized John and abound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 zFor John had been saying to Herod, b“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod cfeared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he dheard him gladly.

21 But an opportunity came when Herod eon his birthday fgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, gup to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s5 head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his hdisciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30 ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and kthey had no leisure even to eat. 32 lAnd they went away in mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and nrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he osaw a great crowd, and ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, q“You give them something to eat.” And rthey said to him, s“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii6 worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, t“Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ulooked up to heaven and vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 wImmediately he xmade his disciples get into ythe boat and go before him to the other side, zto Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, ahe went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when bevening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about bthe fourth watch of the night7 he came to them, walking on the sea. cHe meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and dwere terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, e“Take heart; it is I. eDo not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for fthey did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts gwere hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

53 hWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at iGennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately jrecognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring kthe sick people lon their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, mthey laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even nthe fringe of his garment. And oas many as touched it were made well.

Traditions and Commandments

7 pNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes qwho had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were rdefiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,1 holding to sthe tradition of tthe elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.2 And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as uthe washing of vcups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.3) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to sthe tradition of tthe elders, wbut eat with rdefiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you xhypocrites, as it is written,

y“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

7  in vain do they worship me,

teaching as zdoctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of arejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, b‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, c‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)4— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus dmaking void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, e“Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 fThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”5 17 And when he had entered gthe house and left the people, hhis disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then iare you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart jbut his stomach, and is expelled?”6 (kThus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, l“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, mmurder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, nsensuality, oenvy, pslander, qpride, rfoolishness. 23 sAll these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.7 And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 tNow the woman was a uGentile, va Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be wfed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and xthrow it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s ycrumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may zgo your way; the demon has left your daughter…