6:1  Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him.

6:2  When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners became astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and who gave Him this wisdom, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

6:3  "Don't we know him as the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Do we not have His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him.

6:4  Jesus said to them, "A prophet does not lack honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household."

6:5  And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

6:6  And He wondered at their unbelief. And He went around the villages teaching.

6:7  And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;

6:8  and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff--no bread, no bag, no money in their belt--

6:9  but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics."

6:10  And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

6:11  "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them."

6:12  They went out and preached that men should repent.

6:13  And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many sick people and healed them.

6:14  And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people said, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that explains why these miraculous powers work in Him."

6:15  But others said, "He seems a reincarnation of Elijah" And others said, "He resembles a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."

6:16  But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen!"

6:17  For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.

6:18  For John had said to Herod, "You do not behave lawfully to have your brother's wife."

6:19  Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;

6:20  for Herod feared John, knowing that he lived as a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he felt very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.

6:21  A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee;

6:22  and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

6:23  And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom."

6:24  And she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist."

6:25  Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

6:26  Although the king regretted this decision, because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he didn't want to refuse her.

6:27  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,

6:28  and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

6:29  When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

6:30  The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

6:31  And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For many people continued to come and go, and they did not even have time to eat.)

6:32  They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

6:33  The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.

6:34  When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they acted like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

6:35  When it grew quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place looks desolate and it has already become quite late;

6:36  send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

6:37  But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?"

6:38  And He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."

6:39  And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

6:40  They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.

6:41  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

6:42  They all ate and felt satisfied,

6:43  and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.

6:44  There numbered five thousand men who ate the loaves.

6:45  Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself sent the crowd away.

6:46  After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

6:47  When it became evening, the boat moved into the middle of the sea, and He stood alone on the land.

6:48  Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind pressed against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.

6:49  But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that they had seen a ghost, and cried out;

6:50  for they all saw Him and felt terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage; you look at Me, do not feel afraid."

6:51  Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they became utterly astonished,

6:52  for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart became hardened.

6:53  When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.

6:54  When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,

6:55  and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who had infirmities, to the place they heard He had come.

6:56  Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they placed the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it received healing.