Mark 6

1 And he went out from thence; and he cometh into his own country; and his disciples follow him.2 And when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, Whence hath this man these things? and, What is the wisdom that is given unto this man, and what mean such mighty works wrought by his hands?3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him.4 And Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.7 And he calleth unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;8 and he charged them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse;9 but to go shod with sandals: and, said he, put not on two coats.10 And he said unto them, Wheresoever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart thence.11 And whatsoever place shall not receive you, and they hear you not, as ye go forth thence, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony unto them.12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.14 And king Herod heard thereof; for his name had become known: and he said, John the Baptizer is risen from the dead, and therefore do these powers work in him.15 But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is a prophet, even as one of the prophets.16 But Herod, when he heard thereof, said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen.17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her.18 For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.19 And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not;20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly.21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and them that sat at meat with him; and the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.24 And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptizer.25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist.26 And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her.27 And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.29 And when his disciples heard thereof, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.30 And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus; and they told him all things, whatsoever they had done, and whatsoever they had taught.31 And he saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.32 And they went away in the boat to a desert place apart.33 And the people saw them going, and many knew them, and they ran together there on foot from all the cities, and outwent them.34 And he came forth and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, The place is desert, and the day is now far spent;36 send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about, and buy themselves somewhat to eat.37 But he answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings’ worth of bread, and give them to eat?38 And he saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.39 And he commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the green grass.40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.41 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves; and he gave to the disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.42 And they all ate, and were filled.43 And they took up broken pieces, twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes.44 And they that ate the loaves were five thousand men.45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away.46 And after he had taken leave of them, he departed into the mountain to pray.47 And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.48 And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking on the sea; and he would have passed by them:49 but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he straightway spake with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.51 And he went up unto them into the boat; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves;52 for they understood not concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened.53 And when they had crossed over, they came to the land unto Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.54 And when they were come out of the boat, straightway the people knew him,55 and ran round about that whole region, and began to carry about on their beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.56 And wheresoever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.

Mark 6

Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth

(Mt 13.53–58; Lk 4.16–30)

1 Jesus left that place and went back to his home town, followed by his disciples. 2 On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue. Many people were there; and when they heard him, they were all amazed. “Where did he get all this?” they asked. “What wisdom is this that has been given him? How does he perform miracles?

3 Isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren't his sisters living here?” And so they rejected him.

4 Jesus said to them, “Prophets are respected everywhere except in their own home town and by their relatives and their family.”t
5 He was not able to perform any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

6 He was greatly surprised, because the people did not have faith.

Jesus Sends out the Twelve Disciples

(Mt 10.5–15; Lk 9.1–6)

11 If you come to a town where people do not welcome you or will not listen to you, leave it and shake the dust off your feet. That will be a warning to them!”t
12 So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins.

13 They drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people and healed them.t

The Death of John the Baptist

(Mt 14.1–12; Lk 9.7–9)

14 Now King Herodt heard about all this, because Jesus' reputation had spread everywhere. Some people were saying, “John the Baptist has come back to life! That is why he has this power to perform miracles.”t

15 Others, however, said, “He is Elijah.”
Others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 When Herod heard it, he said, “He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to life!” 17 Herod himself had ordered John's arrest, and he had him chained and put in prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, whom he had married, even though she was the wife of his brother Philip.t

18 John the Baptist kept telling Herod, “It isn't right for you to be married to your brother's wife!”
19 So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not because of Herod.

20 Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John was a good and holy man, and so he kept him safe. He liked to listen to him, even though he became greatly disturbed every time he heard him.
21 Finally Herodias got her chance. It was on Herod's birthday, when he gave a feast for all the chief government officials, the military commanders, and the leading citizens of Galilee. 22 The daughter of Herodiast came in and danced, and pleased Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, “What would you like to have? I will give you anything you want.”

23 With many vows he said to her, “I swear that I will give you anything you ask for, even as much as half my kingdom!”

24 So the girl went out and asked her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

25 The girl hurried back at once to the king and demanded, “I want you to give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a dish!”
26 This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows he had made in front of all his guests. 27 So he sent off a guard at once with orders to bring John's head. The guard left, went to the prison, and cut John's head off; 28 then he brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl, who gave it to her mother.

29 When John's disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body, and buried it.

Jesus Feeds a Great Crowd

(Mt 14.13–21; Lk 9.10–17; Jn 6.1–14)

32 So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place.
33 Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. 34 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.t 35 When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place.

36 Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.”

37  “You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered.
They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend 200 silver coinst on bread in order to feed them?”

38 So Jesus asked them, “How much bread have you got? Go and see.”
When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves and also two fish.”
39 Jesus then told his disciples to make all the people divide into groups and sit down on the green grass. 40 So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty. 41 Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 Everyone ate and had enough. 43 Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish.

44 The number of men who were fed was 5,000.

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Mt 14.22–33; Jn 6.15–21)

50 They were all terrified when they saw him.
Jesus spoke to them at once, “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don't be afraid!” 51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely amazed,

52 because they had not understood the real meaning of the feeding of the 5,000; their minds could not grasp it.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

(Mt 14.34–36)