Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 9

Ministry of the Twelve

^1 (C1)Now He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and the power to heal diseases.² And He sent them out to ^(C1)proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.³ And He said to them, "^(C1)Take nothing for your journey, ^(C2)neither a staff, nor a ^(F1)bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two ^(F2)tunics.⁴ "And whatever house you enter, stay there ^(F1)until you leave that city.⁵ "And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, ^(C1)shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."⁶ And as they were leaving, they began going ^(F1)throughout the villages, ^(C1)preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

^7 (C1)Now ^(C2)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(C3)John had risen from the dead,⁸ and by some that ^(C1)Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.⁹ Herod said, "I myself had John beheaded; but who is this Man about whom I hear such things?" And ^(C1)he kept trying to see Him.

^10 (C1)When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ^(C2)And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called ^(C3)Bethsaida.¹¹ But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Men Fed

¹² Now the day ^(F1)was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, "Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get ^(F2)something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place."¹³ But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!" But they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people."¹⁴ (For there were about five thousand men.) But He said to His disciples, "Have them recline to eat ^(C1)in groups of about fifty each."¹⁵ They did so, and had them all recline.¹⁶ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd.¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied; and ^(F1)the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ^(C1)baskets full.

Peter Says Jesus Is The Christ

^18 (C1)And it happened that while He was ^(C2)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the ^(F1)people say that I am?"¹⁹ They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen."²⁰ And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "^(C1)The ^(F1)Christ of God."²¹ But He ^(F1)(C1)warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,^22 (C1)saying, "^(C2)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day."

²³ And He was saying to them all, "^(C1)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.²⁴ "For ^(C1)whoever wants to save his ^(F1)life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^(F1)life for My sake, this is the one who will save it.²⁵ "For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^(C1)loses or forfeits himself?²⁶ "^(C1)For 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 the holy angels.²⁷ "But I say to you truthfully, ^(C1)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."<