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Mark 6

¹He went out from there and came to his home country, and his disciples followed him. ²And when it was Sabbath, he began to preach in the synagogue, and many were amazed when they heard him. They said, "Where did this guy get these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to him, and the these miracles that happen through his hands? ³Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Justus and Jude and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended by him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his relatives and in his household." ⁵And he wasn't able to perform any miracles except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then he traveled in the surrounding villages teaching.

Sending out the Twelve

⁷Then he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He commanded them not to take anything with them as the traveled, except just a staff. No bread, no traveler's bag. No money in their money belt. ⁹They were to go clad in sandls, and not even dressed in a second cloak. ¹⁰And he said to them, "Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹And wherever they don't receive you or hear you, shake the dust off your shoes and leave as a testimony to them.

¹²And they went out and preached so that people might repent, ¹³and they threw out many demons, and they anointed the sick with oil and healed them.

¹⁴King Herod heard, because Jesus was becoming famous. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that's why these powers are working in him." ¹⁵But others were saying, "It's Elijah!" and others were saying, "A prophet like one of the prophets." ¹⁶But Herod said, "The one I beheaded, John, it's him, raised from the dead."

¹⁷For Herod had sent and seized John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philipp's wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸Because John told Herod that it was wrong to take his brother's wife. ¹⁹And Herodias hated him, and wanted to kill him, but she couldn't. ²⁰For Herod was afraid of John, because he knew that he was a righteous and holy man. But he kept John locked up, and listened to him, even though he was deeply troubled by what John said.

²¹Now she had an opportunity when Herod held a party on his birthday for the important people in his government, his military commanders and the most important people of Galilee. ²²And the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, and Herod was pleased, and so were the people with him. The king said to the young woman, "Ask me for whatever you want, and I'll give it to you." ²³And he swore many oaths to her, saying, "Whatever you ask, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom." ²⁴But she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And her mother said, "The head of John the Baptist." ²⁵And she went back in immediately and she enthusiastically asked the king, "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate right away!" ²⁶And the king became very sad, but because of his oaths and those lying there with him, he didn't want to deny her. ²⁷So immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring John's head. And the executioner went out and beheaded John in prison. ²⁸And he brought his head on a plate and gave it to the young woman, and the young woman gave it to her mother. ²⁹And his disciples heard, and they came and took his body and put it in a tomb.

³⁰And the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, "Come! Let's go to a deserted spot alone and rest for a little while. For there were many people coming and going, and they couldn't even find time to eat. ³²And they went to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. ³³And some folks saw them going and recognized them, and they went on foot from all the towns and got there before them.

³⁴When Jesus went out he saw a big crowd, and he felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵Since it had already been many hours since they went out to him, his disciples began to say, "This is a deserted area, and many hours have passed. ³⁶Let them go, so that they can go into the fields and villages around and buy themselves something to eat." ³⁷But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
And they said to him, "Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" ³⁸But he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see!"
And when they had found out they said, "Five, and two fish." ³⁹And he commanded them to recline in orderly groups on the grass. ⁴⁰And they were divided into groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹And he took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven and blessed them, and he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples so that they could serve them, and he divided the two fish among everyone. ⁴²And everyone ate and was satisfied, ⁴³and they picked up 12 baskedts from the scraps and from the fish. ⁴⁴The number who ate was 5000.

⁴⁵Right after that he had his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After he had said goodbye to them, he went up into the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, but he was alone on land. ⁴⁸And when he saw what difficulty they were having moving forward, because the wind was against them, he came to them about the fourth watch of the night, walking on the sea. He looked like he was going to go right by them. ⁴⁹But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost, and they cried out. ⁵⁰Because all of them saw him, and they were frightened. But he spoke with them and said, "Have courage! It is I! Don't be afraid!" ⁵¹And he got into the boat with them and the wind stopped. They were incredibly amazed. ⁵²For they didn't understand the meaning of the bread, but their hearts were hardened.

⁵³And when they arrived on land in Gennesaret and anchored the boat, ⁵⁴people recognized them immediately as they disembarked. ⁵⁵They rushed out from the whole area and came, carrying people who were sick on mats to wherever they heard that he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went, whether into a village or city, or into agricultural land they would put the sick in the marketplaces and would beg him to allow them to touch even the hem of his clothing. And all who touched it were healed.

Average revision: 3 (Draft # 1 by individual translator)