Bible Reading Plan – Day 338

₁Jesus left that place and went back to his home town, followed by his disciples. ₂On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue. Many people were there; and when they heard him, they were all amazed. “Where did he get all this?” they asked. “What wisdom is this that has been given him? How does he perform miracles? ₃Isn't he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren't his sisters living here?” And so they rejected him.

₄Jesus said to them, “Prophets are respected everywhere except in their own home town and by their relatives and their family.”

₅He was not able to perform any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ₆He was greatly surprised, because the people did not have faith.

Then Jesus went to the villages round there, teaching the people. ₇He called the twelve disciples together and sent them out two by two. He gave them authority over the evil spirits ₈and ordered them, “Don't take anything with you on your journey except a stick — no bread, no beggar's bag, no money in your pockets. ₉Wear sandals, but don't carry an extra shirt.” ₁₀He also said, “Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that place. ₁₁If you come to a town where people do not welcome you or will not listen to you, leave it and shake the dust off your feet. That will be a warning to them!”

₁₂So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins. ₁₃They drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people and healed them.

₁₄Now King Herod heard about all this, because Jesus' reputation had spread everywhere. Some people were saying, “John the Baptist has come back to life! That is why he has this power to perform miracles.”

₁₅Others, however, said, “He is Elijah.”

Others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

₁₆When Herod heard it, he said, “He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to life!” ₁₇Herod himself had ordered John's arrest, and he had him chained and put in prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, whom he had married, even though she was the wife of his brother Philip. ₁₈John the Baptist kept telling Herod, “It isn't right for you to be married to your brother's wife!”

₁₉So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not because of Herod. ₂₀Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John was a good and holy man, and so he kept him safe. He liked to listen to him, even though he became greatly disturbed every time he heard him.

₂₁Finally Herodias got her chance. It was on Herod's birthday, when he gave a feast for all the chief government officials, the military commanders, and the leading citizens of Galilee. ₂₂The daughter of Herodias came in and danced, and pleased Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, “What would you like to have? I will give you anything you want.” ₂₃With many vows he said to her, “I swear that I will give you anything you ask for, even as much as half my kingdom!”

₂₄So the girl went out and asked her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

₂₅The girl hurried back at once to the king and demanded, “I want you to give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a dish!”

₂₆This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows he had made in front of all his guests. ₂₇So he sent off a guard at once with orders to bring John's head. The guard left, went to the prison, and cut John's head off; ₂₈then he brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. ₂₉When John's disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body, and buried it.

₃₀The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught. ₃₁There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while.” ₃₂So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place.

₃₃Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. ₃₄When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. ₃₅When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. ₃₆Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.”

₃₇“You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered.

They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend 200 silver coins on bread in order to feed them?”

₃₈So Jesus asked them, “How much bread have you got? Go and see.”

When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves and also two fish.”

₃₉Jesus then told his disciples to make all the people divide into groups and sit down on the green grass. ₄₀So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty. ₄₁Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ₄₂Everyone ate and had enough. ₄₃Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish. ₄₄The number of men who were fed was 5,000.

₄₅At once Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, on the other side of the lake, while he sent the crowd away. ₄₆After saying goodbye to the people he went away to a hill to pray. ₄₇When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, while Jesus was alone on land. ₄₈He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because they were rowing against the wind; so some time between three and six o'clock in the morning he came to them, walking on the water. He was going to pass them by, ₄₉but they saw him walking on the water. “It's a ghost!” they thought, and screamed. ₅₀They were all terrified when they saw him.

Jesus spoke to them at once, “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don't be afraid!” ₅₁Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely amazed, ₅₂because they had not understood the real meaning of the feeding of the 5,000; their minds could not grasp it.

₅₃They crossed the lake and came to land at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. ₅₄As they left the boat, people recognized Jesus at once. ₅₅So they ran throughout the whole region; and wherever they heard he was, they brought to him sick people lying on their mats. ₅₆And everywhere Jesus went, to villages, towns, or farms, people would take those who were ill to the market places and beg him to let them at least touch the edge of his cloak; and all who touched it were made well.

₁Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus. ₂They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean — that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.

₃(For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews, follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way; ₄nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first. And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds.)

₅So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?”

₆Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote:

₈“You put aside God's command and obey human teachings.”

₉And Jesus continued, “You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching. ₁₀For Moses commanded, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.’ ₁₁But you teach that if a person has something he could use to help his father or mother, but says, ‘This is Corban’ (which means, it belongs to God), ₁₂he is excused from helping his father or mother. ₁₃In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do.”

₁₄Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ₁₅There is nothing that goes into a person from the outside which can make him ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that makes him unclean.”

₁₇When he left the crowd and went into the house, his disciples asked him to explain this saying. ₁₈“You are no more intelligent than the others,” Jesus said to them. “Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can really make him unclean, ₁₉because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and then goes on out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)

₂₀And he went on to say, “It is what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. ₂₁For from the inside, from a person's heart, come the evil ideas which lead him to do immoral things, to rob, kill, ₂₂commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly — ₂₃all these evil things come from inside a person and make him unclean.”

₂₄Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. ₂₅A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. ₂₆The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ₂₇But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

₂₈“Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”

₂₉So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”

₃₀She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

₃₁Jesus then left the neighbourhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. ₃₂Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. ₃₃So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. ₃₄Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!”

₃₅At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. ₃₆Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they spoke. ₃₇And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”