Luke 9

¹Calling the twelve together, Jesus gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ²He sent them out to herald the Reign of God and to heal the sick. ³He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey—neither a staff, nor a traveler’s bag, nor bread, nor silver; and do not have two tunics apiece. ⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. ⁵As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶So they departed and went through the villages, announcing the good news and healing people everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was thoroughly perplexed because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸by others that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. ⁹Herod said, “I beheaded John; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they described to Jesus all they had done. Taking them along, he withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. ¹¹But when the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Reign of God, and cured those in need of healing.

¹²As the day began to decline, the twelve came and said to him, “Dismiss the crowd, so they can go into the surrounding villages and farms to find lodging and provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.” ¹³But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴(For there were about five thousand men.) Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵They did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and pronounced a blessing over them. Then he broke them into pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷Everyone ate and was satisfied, and the fragments left over were picked up—twelve baskets full.

¹⁸Once while Jesus was praying in private and the disciples were with him, he questioned them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others say that one of the ancient prophets has risen.” ²⁰He said to them, “But you—who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Anointed of God.” ²¹But he strictly warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²saying, “It is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and on the third day to be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, 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 will save it. ²⁵For what does a person benefit if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits his very self? ²⁶For 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. ²⁷I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Reign of God.”

²⁸About eight days after these words, Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became a dazzling white. ³⁰And look! Two men were talking with him—Moses and Elijah. ³¹Appearing in glory, they were speaking of his Exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep, but since they stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³As the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,”—not knowing what he was saying. ³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him!” ³⁶After 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.

³⁷On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸And look! A man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look with mercy upon my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it convulses him until he foams at the mouth, and it mauls him, hardly ever leaving him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long must 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. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And all were struck with awe at the majesty of God. While everyone was marveling at all he was doing, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement; it was veiled from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶An argument started among them as to which of them would be the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the inner thoughts of their hearts, took a child and stood him by his side. ⁴⁸He 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 is the one who is great.”

⁴⁹John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow along with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days were being fulfilled for him to be taken up, he set his face to travel to Jerusalem. ⁵²He sent messengers ahead of him. They went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him, ⁵³but the people did not welcome him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were traveling on the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹He said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the Reign of God.” ⁶¹Another also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my house.”[/JESUS] ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Reign of God.”