Chapter 6

  And he went away from there, and came into his country; and his disciples went with him.  

  And when the Sabbath day had come, he was teaching in the Synagogue; and a number of people hearing him were surprised, saying, From where did this man get these things? and, What is the wisdom given to this man, and what are these works of power done by his hands?  

  Is not this the woodworker, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were bitter against him.  

  And Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour, but in his country, and among his relations, and in his family.  

  And he was unable to do any work of power there, but only to put his hands on one or two persons who were ill, and make them well.  

  And he was greatly surprised because they had no faith. And he went about the country places teaching.  

  And he gave orders to the twelve, and sent them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;  

  And he said that they were to take nothing for their journey, but a stick only; no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets;  

  They were to go with common shoes on their feet, and not to take two coats.  

  And he said to them, Wherever you go into a house, make that your resting-place till you go away.  

  And whatever place will not take you in and will not give ear to you, when you go away, put off the dust from your feet as a witness against them.  

  And they went out, preaching the need for a change of heart in men.  

  And they sent out a number of evil spirits, and put oil on a great number who were ill, and made them well.  

  And king Herod had news of him, because his name was on the lips of all; and he said, John the Baptist has come back from the dead, and for this reason these powers are working in him.  

  But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is a prophet, even like one of the prophets.  

  But Herod, when he had news of it, said, John, whom I put to death, has come back from the dead.  

  For Herod himself had sent men out to take John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had taken for himself.  

  For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife.  

  And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able;  

  For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly.  

  And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;  

  And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and did a dance, Herod and those who were at table with him were pleased with her; and the king said to the girl, Make a request for anything and I will give it you.  

  And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom.  

  And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.  

  And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist.  

  And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say 'No' to her.  

  And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John's head in prison,  

  And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  

  And when his disciples had news of it, they came and took up his body, and put it in its last resting-place.  

  And the twelve came together to Jesus; and they gave him an account of all the things they had done, and all they had been teaching.  

  And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a quiet place, and take a rest for a time. Because there were a great number coming and going, and they had no time even for food.  

  And they went away in the boat to a waste place by themselves.  

  And the people saw them going, and a number of them, having knowledge who they were, went running there together on foot from all the towns, and got there before them.  

  And he got out, and saw a great mass of people, and he had pity on them, because they were like sheep without a keeper: and he gave them teaching about a number of things.  

  And at the end of the day, his disciples came to him and said, This place is waste land, and it is late:  

  Send them away, so that they may go into the country and small towns round about, and get some food for themselves.  

  But he said to them in answer, Give them food yourselves. And they said to him, Are we to go and get bread for two hundred pence, and give it to them?  

  And he said to them, How much bread have you? go and see. And when they had seen, they said, Five cakes of bread and two fishes.  

  And he made them all be seated in groups on the green grass.  

  And they were placed in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.  

  And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them; and when the cakes were broken, he gave them to the disciples to put before the people; and he made division of the two fishes among them all.  

  And they all took of the food and had enough.  

  And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken bits and of the fishes.  

  And those who took of the bread were five thousand men.  

  And straight away he made his disciples get into the boat, and go before him to the other side to Beth-saida, while he himself sent the people away.  

  And after he had sent them away, he went up into a mountain for prayer.  

  And by evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he by himself on the land.  

  And seeing that they had trouble in getting their boat through the water, because the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea; and he would have gone past them;  

  But they, when they saw him walking on the sea, took him for a spirit, and gave a loud cry:  

  For they all saw him, and were troubled. But straight away he said to them, Take heart, it is I, have no fear.  

  And he went to them into the boat, and the wind went down, and they were full of wonder in themselves;  

  For it was not clear to them about the bread; but their hearts were hard.  

  And when they had gone across, they came to Gennesaret, and got their boat to land.  

  And when they had got out of the boat, the people quickly had news of him,  

  And went running through all the country round about, and took on their beds those who were ill, to where it was said that he was.  

  And wherever he went, into small towns, or great towns, or into the country, they took those who were ill into the market-places, requesting him that they might put their hands even on the edge of his robe: and all those who did so were made well.