NAS - Luke 9:1-27

9 Ministry of the Twelve

¹And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ²And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. ³And He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.⁴"Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city.⁵"And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."⁶Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

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

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida. ¹¹But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Fed

¹²Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place." ¹³But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!"And 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.) And He said to His disciples, "Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each."¹⁵They did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. ¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.

¹⁸And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the people say that I am?"¹⁹They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again." ²⁰And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"And Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." ²¹But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ²²saying, "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 up on the third day."

²³And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.²⁴"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.²⁵"For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?²⁶"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 of the holy angels.²⁷"But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."