Luke 9 : 1-17

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
 ¹  One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples [1]  and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases.  ²  Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  ³  "Take nothing for your journey," he instructed them. "Don't take a walking stick, a traveler's bag, food, money, [3]  or even a change of clothes.  ⁴  Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town.  ⁵  And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate."
   ⁶  So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

Herod's Confusion
 ⁷  When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, [7]  heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead.  ⁸  Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.
   ⁹  "I beheaded John," Herod said, "so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?" And he kept trying to see him.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
 ¹⁰  When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida.  ¹¹  But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.
   ¹²  Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, "Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place."
   ¹³  But Jesus said, "You feed them."
  "But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?"  ¹⁴  For there were about 5,000 men there.
  Jesus replied, "Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each."  ¹⁵  So the people all sat down.  ¹⁶  Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.  ¹⁷  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!

<<  9:1 Greek the Twelve; other manuscripts read the twelve apostles.
<<  9:3 Or silver coins.
<<  9:7 Greek Herod the tetrarch. Herod Antipas was a son of King Herod and was ruler over Galilee.