Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
1 1And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
2
2and he sent them out to
3proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
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4And he said to them,
"Take nothing for your journey, 5no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.
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And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
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And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town 6shake off the dust from your feet 7as a testimony 8against them."
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9And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus
7 10Now
11Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that
12John had been raised from the dead,
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13by some that Elijah had appeared, and
14by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.
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Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And
15he sought to see him.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
10 On their return
16the apostles told him all that they had done.
17And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida.
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When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he
18welcomed them and
19spoke to them of the kingdom of God and
20cured those who had need of healing.
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Now
21the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him,
22"Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place."
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But he said to them,
23"You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than
24five loaves and two fish--unless we are to go and buy food for all these people."
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For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples,
"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
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And they did so, and had them all sit down.
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And taking the five loaves and the two fish,
25he looked up to heaven and
26said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
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And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
18 27Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them,
"Who do the crowds say that I am?"
19
And they answered,
28"John the Baptist. But others say,
29Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen."
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Then he said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered,
30"The Christ of God."
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 31And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one,
22
32saying,
33"The Son of Man must 34suffer many things and 35be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on 36the third day be raised."
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
23 And he said to all,
"If anyone would come after me, let him 37deny himself and 38take up his cross 39daily and follow me.
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For 40whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
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41For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
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For 42whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed 43when he comes in 44his glory and the glory of the Father and of 45the holy angels.
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But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not 46taste death 47until they see the kingdom of God."
The Transfiguration
28 48Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him
49Peter and John and James and
50went up on the mountain to pray.
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And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was
51altered, and
52his clothing became dazzling white.
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And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
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who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
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Now Peter and those who were with him
53were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake
54they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
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And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three
55tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"--
56not knowing what he said.
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As he was saying these things,
57a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
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And
58a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son,
59my Chosen One;
60 listen to him!"
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And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
61And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.