‏ Mark 6

1And he departed thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2And 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? 3Is 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. 4But 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. 5And he was unable to do any mighty deed there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick persons and cured them; 6and he wondered at their unbelief.

And he went to the villages round about, and taught. 7And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out, two and two, and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8And he commanded them to take nothing for their journey, but a staff only; no bag, no bread, no money in their purses; 9but to be shod with sandals, and not to put on two coats. 10And he said to them: Wherever you enter a house, there make your home till you depart from that place. 11And 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. 12And they went out and preached that men should repent; 13and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and cured them.

14And 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. 15Others said: He is Elijah. Others said: He is a prophet like one of the prophets. 16But when Herod heard of him, he said: John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead.

17For 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. 18For John said to Herod: It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. 19And Herodias was angry with him, and desired to have him killed, and was not able; 20for 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.

21And 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; 22and 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. 23And he swore to her: Whatever you ask, I will give you, to the half of my kingdom.

24But she went out, and said to her mother: What shall I ask? She replied: The head of John the Immerser. 25And 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. 26And the king was very sad; yet, on account of his oath and his guests, he would not reject her. 27And the king immediately sent one of his guards, and commanded his head to be brought. 28And 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. 29And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

30And the apostles came together to Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31And 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. 32And they went away, by ship, into a desert place, privately.

33And 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. 34And 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.

35And 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; 36send 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. 37He 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? 38He said to them: How many loaves have you? Go and see. And when they had learned, they said: Five, and two fishes. 39And he commanded them to make all recline in table parties upon the green grass. 40And they reclined in oblong squares, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41And 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. 42And they all ate, and were satisfied; 43and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces, and of the fishes. 44And those who ate of the loaves were about five thousand men.

45And 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. 46And when he had sent them away, he went into the mountain to pray.

47And when evening came, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone upon the land. 48And 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. 49But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a specter, and cried out; 50for they all saw him, and were troubled. And he immediately spoke to them, and said: Take courage; it is I; be not afraid. 51And he went up to them into the ship; and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered; 52for they had learned nothing from the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

53And when they had passed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret, and drew the ship ashore. 54And when they had come out of the ship, the people immediately recognized him, 55and ran through the whole of that region round about, and began to carry the sick on beds, wherever they heard that he was. 56And 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.