Luke 9

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

1 Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal diseases.

2 Then He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.

3 He told them, “Do not take anything for the journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and do not take an extra set of clothes.

4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that place.

5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave as a witness against them.”

6 So they went out, moving through the villages, preaching the good news and healing people everywhere.

Herod’s Confusion

7 Now Herod the ruler heard about everything that was going on, and he was confused, because some were saying John had been raised from the dead,

8 others said Elijah had appeared, and others said one of the old prophets had come back.

9 Herod said, “John I had beheaded, so who is this I keep hearing about,” And he kept trying to see Him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

10 When the apostles came back, they told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with Him and pulled away privately to a town called Bethsaida.

11 But the crowds found out and followed Him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

12 As the day was ending, the twelve came and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are out here in the middle of nowhere.”

13 But He said, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We only have five loaves and two fish, unless we go buy food for all these people.”

14 There were about five thousand men there. He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.”

15 They did, and everyone sat down.

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

17 Everyone ate and was satisfied, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

Peter Declares Jesus the Christ

18 One day Jesus was praying alone, and His disciples were with Him. He asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

19 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others say one of the ancient prophets has come back.”

20 Then He asked them, “But who do you say I am,” Peter answered, “God’s Christ.”

21 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone this,

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

The Cost of Following Jesus

23 Then He said to everyone, “If anyone wants to follow Me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Me.

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

25 What does it benefit someone to gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves,

26 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

27 I am telling you the truth, some standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

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

29 While He was praying, His appearance changed, and His clothes became bright and shining.

30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glory, talking with Him.

31 They were speaking about His departure, which He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

32 Peter and the others had been overcome with sleep, but when they fully woke up, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

33 As the men were leaving, Peter said, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not really know what he was saying.

34 While he was still speaking, a cloud came and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One, listen to Him.”

36 When the voice stopped, Jesus was alone. The disciples kept it to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

38 A man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg You, look at my son, he is my only child.

39 A spirit takes hold of him, and suddenly he screams. It throws him into convulsions, he foams at the mouth, and it barely leaves him, tearing him up.

40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

41 Jesus said, “You unbelieving and twisted generation, how long do I have to stay with you and put up with you, Bring your son here.”

42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him down and into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

43 Everyone was amazed at the greatness of God. While everyone was still amazed at everything He was doing, He said to His disciples,

Jesus Predicts His Death Again

44 “Listen carefully, the Son of Man is about to be handed over into the hands of men.”

45 But they did not understand what He meant. It was hidden from them, so they could not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

Who Is the Greatest

46 Then a dispute started among them about who was the greatest.

47 Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, took a child and had him stand beside Him.

48 He said, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. The one who is least among all of you, that is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against You Is for You

49 John said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not part of our group.”

50 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, whoever is not against you is for you.”

Samaritan Opposition

51 As the time was coming close for Him to be taken up, Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem.

52 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and they went into a Samaritan village to prepare for Him.

53 But the people there did not welcome Him because He was heading to Jerusalem.

54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

55 But He turned and corrected them.

56 Then they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were traveling along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

58 Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow Me.” But the man said, “Lord, first let me go bury my father.”

60 Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus said, “No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”