Luke 9

Chapter 9

Ministry of the Twelve

^1aAnd He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

²And He sent them out to ^aproclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

³And He said to them, “^aTake nothing for your journey, ^bneither a staff, nor a ¹bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have ²two tunics apiece.

⁴“Whatever house you enter, stay there ¹until you leave that city.

⁵“And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, ^ashake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶Departing, they began going ¹throughout the villages, ^apreaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

^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.

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

^10aWhen the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ^bTaking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called ^cBethsaida.

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

Five Thousand Fed

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 find lodging and get ²something to eat; 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 to eat ^ain groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They 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 broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the ¹people.

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

^18aAnd it happened that while He was ^bpraying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the ¹people say that I am?”

¹⁹They 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 instructed 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.”

²³And He was saying to them all, “^aIf anyone wishes to come after Me, he must 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 life 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.”

The Transfiguration

^28aSome eight days after these sayings, He took along ^bPeter and John and James, and ^cwent up on the mountain ^dto pray.

²⁹And while He was ^apraying, the appearance of His face ^bbecame different, and His clothing became white and ¹gleaming.

³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,

³¹who, appearing in ¹glory, were speaking of His ^adeparture which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and his companions ^ahad been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

³³And as ¹these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “^aMaster, it is good for us to be here; ^blet us make three ²tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—^cnot realizing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud ¹formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then ^aa voice came out of the cloud, saying, “^bThis is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

³⁶And when the voice ¹had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And ^athey kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

^37aOn the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

³⁸And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my ¹only boy,

³⁹and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves.

⁴⁰“I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.”

⁴¹And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²While he was still approaching, the demon ¹slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all amazed at the ^1agreatness of God.

^bBut while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears; ^afor the Son of Man is going to be ¹delivered into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But ^athey ¹did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

^46aAn argument ¹started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

⁴⁷But Jesus, ^aknowing ¹what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side,

⁴⁸and said to them, “^aWhoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^bfor the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^49aJohn answered and said, “^bMaster, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; ^afor he who is not against you is ¹for you.”

⁵¹When the days were approaching for ^aHis ¹ascension, He ²was determined ^bto go to Jerusalem;

⁵²and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the ^aSamaritans to ¹make arrangements for Him.

⁵³But they did not receive Him, ^abecause ¹He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When His disciples ^aJames and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to ^bcommand fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them, ¹and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of;

⁵⁶for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

Exacting Discipleship

^57aAs they were going along the road, ^bsomeone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the ¹air have ²nests, but ^athe Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

⁵⁹And He said to another, “^aFollow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and ^aproclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but ^afirst permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “^aNo one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”