NAS - Mark 6:1-29

6 Teaching at Nazareth

¹Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? ³"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. ⁴Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household."⁵And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶And He wondered at their unbelief.

And He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

⁷And He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ⁸and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff--no bread, no bag, no money in their belt-- ⁹but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics."¹⁰And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.¹¹"Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them."¹²They went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John's Fate Recalled

¹⁴And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him." ¹⁵But others were saying, "He is Elijah." And others were saying, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen!"

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; ²⁰for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee; ²²and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you." ²³And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom." ²⁴And she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." ²⁵Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." ²⁶And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, ²⁸and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.