The Twelve Apostles^(A)

10 And ^(B)when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. ² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and ^[a]Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ^4 (D)Simon the ^[b]Cananite, and Judas ^(E)Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Sending Out the Twelve^(F)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(G)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(H)the Samaritans. ^6 (I)But go rather to the ^(J)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (K)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[d]cleanse the lepers, ^[e]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(M)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (N)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(O)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(P)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (Q)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (R)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(S)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (T)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet.

John the Baptist Beheaded^(A)

14 At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” ^3 (C)For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. ⁴ Because John had said to him, ^(D)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, ^(E)because they counted him as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. ⁷ Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸ So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”

⁹ And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. ¹⁰ So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(F)

^13 (G)When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He ^(H)was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Sending Out the Twelve^(A)

^7 (B)And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out ^(C)two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. ⁸ He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— ⁹ but ^(D)to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

^10 (E)Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. ^11 (F)And ^[a]whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, ^(G)shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. ^[b]Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

¹² So they went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ And they cast out many demons, ^(H)and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

John the Baptist Beheaded^(I)

^14 (J)Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, “John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore ^(K)these powers are at work in him.”

^15 (L)Others said, “It is Elijah.”

And others said, “It is ^[c]the Prophet, ^(M)or like one of the prophets.”

^16 (N)But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!”

Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

^30 (B)Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. ^31 (C)And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For ^(D)there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. ^32 (E)So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

³³ But ^[a]the multitudes saw them departing, and many ^(F)knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. ^34 (G)And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like ^(H)sheep not having a shepherd. So ^(I)He began to teach them many things.