¹Next he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure diseases, ²and he sent them away to proclaim the kingdom of God and to cure those who were ill. ³And he said to them, “Do not take anything for the journey, neither staffs nor wallet, nor bread, nor money, nor have two coats each, ⁴and stay in whatever house you go into, and go out from there. ⁵But as for whoever does not receive you, go out of that city and shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶So they departed and passed through from village to village bringing good tidings and healing people everywhere. ⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all the things being done by him, and he was quite put out, with it being said by some that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. ⁹Then Herod said, “I had John beheaded. So who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he looked for a way to see him. ¹⁰Meanwhile the apostles returned and described to him the things which they had done, at which he took them along and withdrew privately to a deserted place in the city called Bethsaida, ¹¹but the crowds, having come to know about it, followed him. Nevertheless, he received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he cured those who needed curing. ¹²Then the day began to decline, and the twelve came up and said to him, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go off to the surrounding villages and fields to lodge and find provisions, because here we are in a desolate place.” ¹³But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They then said, “We do not have more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go to buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴After all, there were about five thousand men there. Then he said to his disciples, “Seat them in groups of fifty.” ¹⁵So they did this, and they had them all recline. ¹⁶Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and he looked up to heaven and blessed them, and he broke them and gave them to the disciples to serve to the crowd. ¹⁷And they all ate and were filled, and the fragments they left over were picked up: twelve basketsful. ¹⁸Subsequently, it came to pass when he was praying on his own, that his disciples were with him, and he questioned them and asked, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹They answered and said, “John the Baptist, while others say Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets has risen.” ²⁰Then he said to them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter then answered and said, “The Christ of God.” ²¹At this he warned them and forbade them to tell anyone this, ²²and he said, “The son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and senior priests and scribes, and be killed, and rise on the third day.” ²³Then he said to everyone, “If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but it is whoever loses his life for my sake who will save it. ²⁵For how is man benefitted if he has gained the whole world but has lost or suffered damage to his very self? ²⁶For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the son of man will be ashamed of him when he enters into his glory and that of the father and that of the holy angels. ²⁷And I say to you, truly, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” ²⁸Then it came to pass about eight days after these words that he took Peter and John and James along with him and went up the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white as it flashed like lightning. ³⁰Then two men, who were Moses and Elijah, became visible and were talking with him, ³¹and they appeared in glory, and they were speaking of his departure from this life, which he was about to fulfil in Jerusalem. ³²Then Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep, but on waking up they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³And it came to pass as they moved away from him that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here, so let us make three booths, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah”, not knowing what he was saying. ³⁴But as he was saying these things, a cloud materialized and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as the two aforementioned went into the cloud. ³⁵Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my beloved son. Hear him.” ³⁶And when the voice had passed, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and did not disclose to anyone in those days anything of what they had seen. ³⁷Then it came to pass on the next day when they had come down from the mountain that a large crowd met him. ³⁸And it so happened that a man from the crowd shouted out and said, “Teacher, I implore you to have an eye to my son, for he is my only-begotten child, ³⁹and what happens is that a spirit gets possession of him, and he suddenly shouts out, and it convulses him with foaming, and it hardly recedes from him as it crushes him. ⁴⁰And I pleaded with your disciples to cast it out, but they couldn't.” ⁴¹At this, Jesus replied and said, “O faithless and wayward generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²Even as he was coming, the demon tore at him and convulsed him. Jesus, however, rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And they were all astonished at the majesty of God. And while they all marvelled at everything Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴“Lay these words to your ears. For the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵But they failed to understand this remark, and it was veiled from them, so that they did not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this remark. ⁴⁶Then a dispute arose among them as to who might be the greatest of them. ⁴⁷But Jesus, having seen the disputing of their heart, took hold of a child and stood him next to himself, ⁴⁸and he said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For it is he who is least among you all who will be great.” ⁴⁹Then John responded and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we prevented him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for he who is not against us is for us.” ⁵¹Now it came to pass, towards the completion of the days to him being taken up, that he resolutely disposed himself to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him, who departed and went into a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³But they did not receive him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴Then when his disciples James and John saw him, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them, as Elijah did for his part?” ⁵⁵But he turned round and rebuked them and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are. ⁵⁶For the son of man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” Then they went to another village. ⁵⁷Then it came to pass as they were going on the way that someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go, Lord.” ⁵⁸But Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the son of man does not have anywhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹He also said to someone else, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, allow me to go off and bury my father first.” ⁶⁰However, Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go off and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord. But first allow me to bid farewell to those in my house.” ⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No-one, having put his hand to the plough, but looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”