Mark 6:4-14

⁴Jesus knew that they refused to believe in him. So he said to them, “ It is certainly true that people honor me and other prophets in other places, but not in our hometowns! Even our relatives and the people who live in our own houses do not honor us!”

⁵So, although he healed a few sick people there by touching them, he decided not to perform many other miracles in Nazareth because the people there did not believe that he was the Messiah.

⁶He was amazed that they did not believe in him. Mark 6:6b-13 Jesus and his disciples went from town to town in that region teaching the people.

⁷One day he summoned the twelve disciples, and then he told them that he was going to send them out two-by-two to teach people in various towns. He gave them power to expel evil spirits from people.

⁸He also instructed them to wear sandals and to take along a walking stick when they were traveling. He told them not to take food, nor a bag in which travelers carry supplies, nor any money for their journey. He also did not allow them to take extra clothing. He wanted the people who heard their message to give them what they needed.

¹⁰He also instructed them, “After you enter a town, if someone invites you to stay in his house, go into his house. Eat and sleep in that same home until you leave that town.

¹¹Wherever the people do not welcome you and wherever the people do not listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that place. By doing that, you will warn them that God will punish them for rejecting your message.”

¹²So after the disciples went out to various towns, they were preaching that people should stop their sinful behavior.

¹³They were also expelling many evil spirits from people, and they were anointing many sick people with olive oil and healing them.

¹⁴King Herod Antipas heard about what Jesus was doing, because many people were talking about it. Some people were saying about Jesus, “ He must be John the Baptizer! He has come back to life! That is why he has God's power to perform these miracles!”