Luke 9:7–27

Herod Is Confused About Jesus

⁷Herod, the governor, heard about all the things that were happening and was confused, because some people said, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.” ⁸Others said, “Elijah has come to us.” And still others said, “One of the prophets who lived long ago has risen from the dead.” ⁹Herod said, “I cut off John’s head, so who is this man I hear such things about?” And Herod kept trying to see Jesus.

More than Five Thousand Fed

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then Jesus took them with him to a town called Bethsaida where they could be alone together. ¹¹But the people learned where Jesus went and followed him. He welcomed them and talked with them about God’s kingdom and healed those who needed to be healed.

¹²Late in the afternoon, the twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the people away. They need to go to the towns and countryside around here and find places to sleep and something to eat, because no one lives in this place.”

¹³But Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

They said, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴(There were about five thousand men there.)

Jesus said to his followers, “Tell the people to sit in groups of about fifty people.”

¹⁵So the followers did this, and all the people sat down. ¹⁶Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish, and looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. Then he divided the food and gave it to the followers to give to the people. ¹⁷They all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was gathered up, filling twelve baskets.

Jesus Is the Christ

¹⁸One time when Jesus was praying alone, his followers were with him, and he asked them, “Who do the people say I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah. ⁿ And others say you are one of the prophets from long ago who has come back to life.”

²⁰Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Christ from God.”

²¹Jesus warned them not to tell anyone, saying, ²²“The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He will be killed and after three days will be raised from the dead.”

²³Jesus said to all of them, “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. ²⁴Those who want to save their lives will give up true life. But those who give up their lives for me will have true life. ²⁵It is worthless to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost. ²⁶If people are ashamed of me and my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. ²⁷I tell you the truth, some people standing here will see the kingdom of God before they die.”