Luke 9

¹Having called together the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

²And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

³And he said to them: 'Take nothing for the journey — neither staff nor bag nor bread nor money nor two tunics apiece.'

⁴And whatever house you enter, stay there and depart from there.

⁵And wherever people do not receive you, as you depart from that city shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.

⁶Then going out, they traveled through village after village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all the things being done by him, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen.

⁹And Herod said: 'John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?' And he was seeking to see him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had done. Then taking them along, he withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.

¹¹But when the crowds learned of it, they followed him. And welcoming them, he spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and those who had need of healing he cured.

¹²Now the day began to decline. So the Twelve came to him and said: 'Dismiss the crowd so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and provisions, because we are here in a desolate place.'

¹³But he said to them: 'You give them something to eat.' They said: 'We have no more than five loaves and two fish — unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.'

¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. Then he said to his disciples: 'Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.'

¹⁵And they did so and made them all sit down.

¹⁶Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over — twelve baskets of fragments — was taken up.

¹⁸Now while he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he asked them, saying: 'Who do the crowds say that I am?'

¹⁹They answered: 'John the Baptist; but others say Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.'

²⁰Then he said to them: 'But you — who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered: 'The Christ of God.'

²¹But he sternly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one,

²²saying that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²³Then he was saying to them all: 'If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'

²⁴For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life on account of me, he will save it.

²⁵For what does it profit a person who has gained the whole world but has forfeited or lost himself?

²⁶For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

²⁷But I tell you truly: there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

²⁸Now after these sayings, about eight days later, taking along Peter and John and James, he went up onto the mountain to pray.

²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white and dazzling.

³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him — Moses and Elijah,

³¹who appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep; but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him.

³³Then as the men were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus: 'Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three shelters — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah' — not knowing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying: "This is my Son, the Chosen One — listen to him!"

³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

³⁷On the following day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

³⁸And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying: "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

³⁹A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out, and it throws him into convulsions with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, grinding him down.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able.

⁴¹Jesus answered: "You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

⁴²While he was still coming, the demon threw him down and shook him with convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³Then all were astonished at the majesty of God. While they were all marveling at everything he was doing, he said to his disciples:

⁴⁴"Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men."

⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

⁴⁶Then a reasoning entered among them — which of them might be the greater.

⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their heart, took hold of a child and set it by himself.

⁴⁸And he said to them: Whoever receives this child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you — this one is great.

⁴⁹John answered, saying: Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we were forbidding him, because he does not follow with us.

⁵⁰And Jesus said to him: Do not forbid; for whoever is not against you is for you.

⁵¹Now it came to pass, when the days of his being taken up were drawing near, that he himself set his face to go to Jerusalem.

⁵²And he sent messengers before his face; and going along, they entered a village of Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.

⁵³And they did not receive him, because his face was going toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw it, they said: Lord, do you wish that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

⁵⁷And it came to pass, as they were going along the road, someone said to him: I will follow you wherever you go.

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

⁵⁹Then he said to another: Follow me. But he said: Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.

⁶⁰But Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their own dead; but you, going, proclaim the kingdom of God.

⁶¹And still another said: I will follow you, Lord; but first allow me to say goodbye to those in my household.

⁶²Then Jesus said to him: No one who has put his hand to the plow and is looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.