< Mark 6 >

1 And he departed thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And when the sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many that heard him were astonished, and said: Whence has this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given to him, that even such mighty deeds are done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they found in him cause for offense. 4 But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honor, unless in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house. 5 And he was unable to do any mighty deed there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick persons and cured them; 6 and he wondered at their unbelief. And he went to the villages round about, and taught. 7 And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out, two and two, and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 And he commanded them to take nothing for their journey, but a staff only; no bag, no bread, no money in their purses; 9 but to be shod with sandals, and not to put on two coats. 10 And he said to them: Wherever you enter a house, there make your home till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you, nor hear you, when you go out from that place, shake off the dust under your feet, for a testimony against them. Verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. 12 And they went out and preached that men should repent; 13 and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and cured them. 14 And Herod the king heard of him, for his name had become known; and he said: John the Immerser has risen from the dead, and for this reason, the powers of the spiritual world are active within him. 15 Others said: He is Elijah. Others said: He is a prophet like one of the prophets. 16 But when Herod heard of him, he said: John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead. 17 For Herod himself had sent and taken John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; for he had married her. 18 For John said to Herod: It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. 19 And Herodias was angry with him, and desired to have him killed, and was not able; 20 for Herod feared John, because he knew him to be a just and holy man; and he kept him in safety. And having heard him, he did many things, and heard him with pleasure. 21 And a suitable day having come, when Herod, on his birthday, made a supper for his great men, and his chief officers, and the first men of Galilee; 22 and the daughter of this Herodias having come in, and danced, and pleased Herod and his guests, the king said to the maiden: Ask me what you will, and I will give it to you. 23 And he swore to her: Whatever you ask, I will give you, to the half of my kingdom. 24 But she went out, and said to her mother: What shall I ask? She replied: The head of John the Immerser. 25 And she came in immediately, with haste, to the king, and made her request, saying: I desire that you give me, at once, in a dish, the head of John the Immerser. 26 And the king was very sad; yet, on account of his oath and his guests, he would not reject her. 27 And the king immediately sent one of his guards, and commanded his head to be brought. 28 And he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a dish, and gave it to the maiden; and the maiden gave it to her mother. 29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his body, and laid it in a tomb. 30 And the apostles came together to Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And he said to them: Come yourselves privately into a desert place, and rest awhile. For there were many coming and going, and they had not leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away, by ship, into a desert place, privately. 33 And many saw them departing, and recognized him; and they ran thither on foot from all the cities, and went before them, and came together to him. 34 And when Jesus came out, he saw a great multitude, and had compassion on them, because they were as sheep that had no shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when much of the day was now spent, his disciples came to him, and said: This is a desert place, and much of the day is now spent; 36 send them away, that they may go into the country and the villages round about, and buy bread for themselves: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said to them: Do you give them food. And they said to him: Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them food? 38 He said to them: How many loaves have you? Go and see. And when they had learned, they said: Five, and two fishes. 39 And he commanded them to make all recline in table parties upon the green grass. 40 And they reclined in oblong squares, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed; and he broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to place before them. And he divided the two fishes among them all. 42 And they all ate, and were satisfied; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces, and of the fishes. 44 And those who ate of the loaves were about five thousand men. 45 And he immediately compelled his disciples to get into the ship, and to go before him to the opposite side, to Bethsaida, while he sent the multitude away. 46 And when he had sent them away, he went into the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone upon the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea, and intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a specter, and cried out; 50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. And he immediately spoke to them, and said: Take courage; it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up to them into the ship; and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered; 52 for they had learned nothing from the loaves: for their heart was hardened. 53 And when they had passed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret, and drew the ship ashore. 54 And when they had come out of the ship, the people immediately recognized him, 55 and ran through the whole of that region round about, and began to carry the sick on beds, wherever they heard that he was. 56 And whatever place he entered, whether villages or cities or country, they laid the sick in the market-places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his mantle: and as many as touched him were saved.

< Mark 6 >