Luke 9:5-25

⁵And as many as will not receive you, when you go out from that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶As they went out, they were going about village by village, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things being done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

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

⁹And Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he was seeking to see Him.

¹⁰And the apostles, when they had returned, recounted to Him all that they had done. And taking them along, He withdrew privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

¹¹But when the crowds found out, they followed Him; and He welcomed them, and was speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and He cured those who needed healing.

¹²Now when the day began to decline, the twelve came and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and farms, and they may find lodging and find provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And He said to His disciples, “Make them recline in groups of fifty.”

¹⁵And they did so, and made them all recline.

¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷So they all ate and were satisfied, and twelve baskets of the remaining fragments were taken up by them.

¹⁸And it came to pass, while He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds pronounce Me to be?”

¹⁹So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you pronounce Me to be?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

²¹And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,

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

²³Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

²⁴For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake shall save it.

²⁵For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?