Luke 9

¹Having called together the twelve, he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal diseases, ²and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³And he said to them, "Take nothing for the journey—neither staff nor bag nor bread nor money—and do not have two tunics each. ⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there and depart from there. ⁵And wherever they do not welcome you, as you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

⁶So they set out and traveled through the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed because it was being said by some that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸by others that Elijah had appeared, and by still others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. ⁹But Herod said, "John I myself beheaded—so who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept seeking to see him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they recounted to him everything they had done. Taking them with him, he withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹But the crowds found out and followed him. Welcoming them, he spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who had need of healing.

¹²Now the day began to decline. The twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and provisions, because we are here in a desolate place."

¹³But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." ¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, "Have them recline in groups of about fifty each." ¹⁵And they did so and had everyone recline.

¹⁶Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷And everyone ate and was satisfied, and what remained of the broken pieces was gathered up—twelve baskets.

¹⁸Now it happened that while he was praying in a secluded place, his disciples were with him. And he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

¹⁹They answered, "John the Baptizer—but others say Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets has risen."

²⁰He said to them, "But you—who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

²¹But he warned them sternly and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."

²³And he said to all of them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake—this one will save it. ²⁵For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world but lose or forfeit himself? ²⁶For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that one when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

²⁸Now it happened about eight days after these words that he took Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white, flashing like lightning. ³⁰And look—two men were conversing with him, who were Moses and Elijah. ³¹Appearing in glory, they were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and those with him had been weighed down with sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³And as they were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters—one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"—not knowing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And a voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him!"

³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

³⁷Now on the following day, when they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸And suddenly a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, because he is my only child! ³⁹A spirit seizes him, and suddenly he screams, and it convulses him with foaming, and it departs from him only with difficulty, crushing him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able."

⁴¹Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation! How long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

⁴²While the boy was still approaching, the demon threw him down and convulsed him violently. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And everyone was astounded at the majesty of God. While all were marveling at everything he was doing, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴"Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be handed over into human hands."

⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying; it was concealed from them so that they would not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶Now an argument arose among them about which of them might be greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took hold of a child and set the child beside himself, ⁴⁸and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you—this one is great."

⁴⁹John responded, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow with us."

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him. For whoever is not against you is for you."

⁵¹Now when the days were drawing near for his being taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. They went and entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him, ⁵³but they did not welcome him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?"

⁵⁵But turning, he rebuked them. ⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were traveling along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

⁵⁹To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."

⁶⁰But he said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead. But you—go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

⁶¹Another also said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those in my household."

⁶²But Jesus said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."