Luke 9:7–27

^7aNow ^bHerod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that ^cJohn had risen from the dead,

⁸and by some that ^aElijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again.

⁹And Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded, but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And ^ahe kept trying to see Him.

^10aAnd when the apostles returned, they recounted to Him all that they had done. ^bTaking them with Him, He slipped away by Himself to a city called ^cBethsaida.

¹¹But when the crowds became aware of this, they followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

¹²Now the day ¹was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and obtain lodging and find provisions, for here we are in a desolate place.”

¹³But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴(For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them ¹sit down ^ain groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵And they did so, and had them all ¹sit down.

¹⁶Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. And He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied; and ¹the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ^abaskets full.

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

^18aAnd it happened that while He was ^bpraying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹And they answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.”

²⁰And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “^aThe ¹Christ of God.”

²¹But He ^1awarned them and directed them not to tell this to anyone,

^22asaying, “^bThe Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

Take Up Your Cross

²³And He was saying to them all, “^aIf anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

²⁴“For ^awhoever wishes to save his ¹life will lose it, but whoever loses his ²life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

²⁵“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and ^aloses or forfeits himself?

²⁶“^aFor whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

²⁷“But I say to you truthfully, ^athere are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”