New Testament in a Year

Chapter 9

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve on Mission.^{[a] 1} Calling the Twelve together, Jesus gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them forth to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

³ He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking staff, nor sack, nor bread, nor money. Nor are you to have a second tunic. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, stay there until you depart from that area. ⁵ As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” ⁶ Then they set forth and traveled from village to village, preaching the gospel and curing diseases everywhere.

John the Baptist, Herod, and Jesus.^{[b] 7} Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was taking place, and he was perplexed because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸ others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. ⁹ But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Then who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he was anxious to see him.

¹⁰ Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Men.^[c] On their return, the apostles reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them along and withdrew privately to a town named Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the people learned of this, they followed him. Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. He also cured those who were in need of healing.

¹² When evening was approaching, the Twelve came to Jesus and said, “Send the people away now so that they can go to the villages and farms in the area and obtain food and lodging, for we are in a deserted place.” ¹³ He replied, “Give them something to eat yourselves.” They said, “All we have are five loaves and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were present about five thousand men.

Then he instructed his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty.” ¹⁵ They did so and made them sit down. ¹⁶ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute among the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Then they gathered up what was left over—twelve baskets of fragments.