^9 (A)Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a ^[a]bag for your journey, or even two ^[b]tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for ^(B)the worker is deserving of his ^[c]support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay ^[d]at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the ^[e]house, ^(C)give it your ^[f]greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy, ^[g]take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴ And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, ^(D)shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(E)it will be more tolerable for the land of ^(F)Sodom and Gomorrah on ^(G)the day of judgment, than for that city.

A Hard Road Ahead of Them

¹⁶ “^(H)Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as ^(I)wary as serpents, and as ^(J)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the ^(K)courts and flog you ^(L)in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ^19 (M)But when they hand you over, ^(N)do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour. ²⁰ For ^(O)it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking ^[h]in you.

²¹ “Now ^(P)brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and ^(Q)children will rise up against parents and ^[i]cause them to be put to death. ²² And ^(R)you will be hated by all because of My name, but ^(S)it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³ “But whenever they ^(T)persecute you in ^[j]one city, flee to the ^[k]next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel ^(U)until the Son of Man comes.

The Meaning of Discipleship

²⁴ “^(V)A ^[l]disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he may become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ^(W)If they have called the head of the house ^[m](X)Beelzebul, how much more will they insult the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not ^(Y)fear them, ^(Z)for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ^27 (AA)What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim ^(AB)on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather ^(AC)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[n](AD)hell. ^29 (AE)Are two sparrows not sold for an ^[o]assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(AF)even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹ So do not fear; ^(AG)you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.

³² “Therefore, ^(AH)everyone who ^[p]confesses Me before people, I will also confess ^[q]him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But ^(AI)whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ “^(AJ)Do not think that I came to ^[r]bring peace on the earth; I did not come to ^[s]bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to ^(AK)turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and ^(AL)a person’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷ “^(AM)The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And ^(AN)the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ^39 (AO)The one who has found his ^[t]life will lose it, and the one who has lost his ^[u]life on My account will find it.

The Reward for Service

⁴⁰ “^(AP)The one who ^[v]receives you ^[w]receives Me, and ^(AQ)the one who ^[x]receives Me ^[y]receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (AR)The one who ^[z]receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who ^[aa]receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And ^(AS)whoever gives one of these ^[ab]little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

^8 (A)and He instructed them that they were to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no ^[a]bag, no money in their belt—

³ And He said to them, “^(A)Take nothing for your journey, ^(B)neither a staff, nor a ^[a]bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two ^[b]tunics. ⁴ And whatever house you enter, stay there ^[c]until you leave that city. ⁵ And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, ^(C)shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶ And as they were leaving, they began going ^[d]throughout the villages, ^(D)preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

^7 (E)Now ^(F)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(G)John had risen from the dead, ⁸ and by some that ^(H)Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this Man about whom I hear such things?” And ^(I)he kept trying to see Him.

^10 (J)When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ^(K)And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called ^(L)Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Men Fed

¹² Now the day ^[e]was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get ^[f]something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.” ¹³ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But 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.) But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat ^(M)in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did so, and had them all recline. ¹⁶ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied; and ^[g]the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ^(N)baskets full.

Peter Says Jesus Is The Christ

^18 (O)And it happened that while He was ^(P)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the ^[h]people say that I am?” ¹⁹ They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “^(Q)The ^[i]Christ of God.” ²¹ But He ^[j](R)warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ^22 (S)saying, “^(T)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³ And He was saying to them all, “^(U)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For ^(V)whoever wants to save his ^[k]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[l]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. ²⁵ For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^(W)loses or forfeits himself? ^26 (X)For 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 the holy angels. ²⁷ But I say to you truthfully, ^(Y)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (Z)About eight days after these sayings, He took along ^(AA)Peter, John, and James, and ^(AB)went up on the mountain ^(AC)to pray. ²⁹ And while He was ^(AD)praying, the appearance of His face ^(AE)became different, and His clothing became white and ^[m]gleaming. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who, appearing in ^[n]glory, were speaking of His ^(AF)departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions ^(AG)had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. ³³ And as ^[o]these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “^(AH)Master, it is good that we are here; and ^(AI)let’s make three ^[p]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—^(AJ)not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴ But while he was saying this, a cloud ^[q]formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And then ^(AK)a voice came from the cloud, saying, “^(AL)This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” ³⁶ And when the voice ^[r]had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And ^(AM)they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

^37 (AN)On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸ And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son, ³⁹ and 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 And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed 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. ⁴³ And they were all amazed at the ^[s](AO)greatness of God.

^(AP)But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “As for you, let these words sink into your ears: ^(AQ)for the Son of Man is going to be ^[t]handed over to men.” ⁴⁵ But ^(AR)they ^[u]did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

^46 (AS)Now an argument ^[v]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, ^(AT)knowing ^[w]what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, ⁴⁸ and He said to them, “^(AU)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^(AV)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^49 (AW)John answered and said, “^(AX)Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; ^(AY)for the one who is not against you is ^[x]for you.”

⁵¹ When the days were approaching for ^(AZ)His ^[y]ascension, He ^[z]was determined ^(BA)to go to Jerusalem; ⁵² and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the ^(BB)Samaritans to ^[aa]make arrangements for Him. ⁵³ And they did not receive Him, ^(BC)because ^[ab]He was traveling toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When His disciples ^(BD)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to ^(BE)command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them.^{[ac] 56} And they went on to another village.

Exacting Discipleship

^57 (BF)As they were going on the road, ^(BG)someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but ^(BH)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ And He said to another, “^(BI)Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and ^(BJ)proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but ^(BK)first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “^(BL)No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

^4 (A)Carry no money belt, no ^[a]bag, no sandals, and greet no one along the way.