Luke 9

¹Jesus called together the 12 disciples and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to heal sicknesses.

²Then he sent them out to announce God’s kingdom and heal those who were sick.

³He told them, “Don’t take anything for the journey—no walking stick, bag, bread, money, or extra clothes.

⁴When you’re invited into a house, stay there until you leave that town.

⁵The people in some places may not welcome you; if they don’t, leave and shake the dust off your feet. This will be a witness against the people living there.”

⁶So the 12 disciples headed out and went from village to village, announcing the good news and healing people everywhere.

⁷Now Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything that was going on. He was bewildered, because some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead,

⁸others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others were saying that a prophet of long ago had come back to life.

⁹But Herod said, “This isn’t John, because I had his head cut off, so who is this that I hear these things about?” And he tried to see Jesus.

¹⁰The disciples returned and told Jesus what they had done. Then he gathered them together and tried to get away with them to a town called Bethsaida.

¹¹But the crowds found out about it and went there too. Jesus welcomed them, spoke to them about God’s kingdom, and healed those who were sick.

¹²Late in the afternoon the 12 disciples came to him. They said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find food to eat and a place to stay, because there’s nothing here.”

¹³Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”

The disciples replied, “All we have is five loaves of bread and two fish—unless you want us to go out and buy food for all these people!”

¹⁴(About 5,000 men were there.)

But Jesus said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.”

¹⁵The disciples did this, and everyone sat down.

¹⁶Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks. Then he broke the food into pieces and gave it to the disciples to give to the people.

¹⁷Everybody ate as much as they wanted until everyone was full. But the disciples still picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces.

¹⁸One day when Jesus was praying alone and only his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

²⁰“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

²¹Jesus warned them sternly not to tell this to anyone.

²²He said, “The Son of Man is going to have to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. He will even be killed, but on the third day he will rise from the dead.”

²³Then he said to all of them, “Whoever wants to follow me must say no to themselves, pick up their cross every day, and follow me.

²⁴Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

²⁵What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses or gives up their very self?

²⁶If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

²⁷“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not die before they see God’s kingdom.”

²⁸About eight days after Jesus had said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up on a mountain to pray.

²⁹As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

³⁰Two men, Moses and Elijah,

³¹appeared in shining glory. Jesus and the two of them talked together about how he would be leaving soon and how this was going to happen in Jerusalem.

³²Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but becoming fully awake, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.

³³As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Peter didn’t know what he was saying.)

³⁴While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them. The disciples were afraid as it settled over them,

³⁵but a voice came from the cloud and said, “This is my Son, the one I have chosen; listen to him.”

³⁶Once the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept quiet about this and didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

³⁷When they came down from the mountain the next day, a large crowd was waiting for Jesus.

³⁸A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child!

³⁹He suddenly screams when a spirit takes hold of him. It throws him into fits so that he foams at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him, and it’s destroying him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹“You unbelieving people who’ve turned away from God!” Jesus replied. “How long do I have to stay with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

⁴²Even as the boy was coming, the demon threw him into a fit, and he fell to the ground. But Jesus ordered the evil spirit to leave the boy. He healed him and gave him back to his father.

⁴³They were all amazed at God’s greatness.

Everyone was amazed by all that Jesus did, but he said to his disciples,

⁴⁴“Listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. The Son of Man is going to be handed over for people to do as they wish to him.”

⁴⁵But they didn’t understand what this meant, because it was hidden from them, and they were afraid to ask Jesus about it.

⁴⁶The disciples began to argue about which one of them would be the most important.

⁴⁷Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a little child and had the child stand beside him.

⁴⁸Then he told them, “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. The one who is considered least important among you is the most important of all.”

⁴⁹“Master,” John said, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t one of us.”

⁵⁰“Don’t stop him,” Jesus replied, “because anyone who isn’t against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the time grew near for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he resolved to go to Jerusalem.

⁵²He sent messengers on ahead, and they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him.

⁵³But the people there wouldn’t welcome Jesus, because he was heading for Jerusalem.

⁵⁴The disciples James and John saw this and asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?”

⁵⁵But Jesus turned and commanded them not to.

⁵⁶Then he and his disciples headed off to another village.

⁵⁷As they continued down the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you no matter where you go.”

⁵⁸Jesus answered, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But that man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let those who are dead bury their own dead; you go and tell others about God’s kingdom.”

⁶¹Still another person said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

⁶²Jesus responded, “Anyone who starts to plow but then looks back isn’t fit for service in God’s kingdom.”