A Prophet Without Honor
1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,6:3 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,6:14 Some early manuscripts He was saying “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled6:20 Some early manuscripts he did many things; yet he liked to listen to him.
21Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22When the daughter of6:22 Some early manuscripts When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages6:37 Greek take two hundred denarii! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42They all ate and were satisfied, 43and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
ነቢይ በአገሩ አይከበርም
6፥1-6 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 13፥54-58
1ከዚህ በኋላ ኢየሱስ ከዚያ ተነሥቶ ወደ ገዛ አገሩ ሄደ፤ ደቀ መዛሙርቱም ተከተሉት። 2ሰንበትም በደረሰ ጊዜ፣ በምኵራብ ያስተምር ጀመር፤ የሰሙትም ብዙ ሰዎች ተደነቁ።
እነርሱም እንዲህ አሉ፤ “ይህ ሰው እነዚህን ነገሮች ከየት አገኛቸው? ይህ የተሰጠው ጥበብ ምንድን ነው? ደግሞም እነዚህ ታምራት እንዴት በእጁ ይደረጋሉ! 3ይህ ዐናጢው አይደለምን? የማርያም ልጅ፣ የያዕቆብና የዮሴፍ6፥3 ግሪኩ ዮሴስ ይላል።፣ የይሁዳና የስምዖን ወንድም አይደለምን? እኅቶቹስ እዚሁ እኛው ዘንድ አይደሉምን?” ከዚህም የተነሣ ተሰናከሉበት።
4ኢየሱስም፣ “ነቢይ የማይከበረው በገዛ አገሩ፣ በዘመዶቹ መካከልና በቤተ ሰቡ ዘንድ ብቻ ነው” አላቸው። 5እዚያም በጥቂት ሕመምተኞች ላይ እጁን ጭኖ ከመፈወሱ በስተቀር ምንም ታምራት ሊሠራ አልቻለም፤ 6ባለ ማመናቸውም ተደነቀ።
ኢየሱስ ዐሥራ ሁለቱን ላከ
6፥7-11 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 10፥1፡9-14፤ ሉቃ 9፥1፡3-5
ከዚያም ኢየሱስ በየመንደሩ እየተዘዋወረ ያስተምር ነበር። 7ዐሥራ ሁለቱን ወደ እርሱ ጠርቶ፣ ሁለት ሁለቱን ላካቸው፤ በርኩሳን6፥7 ወይም ክፉ መናፍስትም ላይ ሥልጣን ሰጣቸው።
8ይህንም ትእዛዝ ሰጣቸው፤ “ለመንገዳችሁ ከበትር በስተቀር፣ እንጀራ ወይም ከረጢት ወይም ደግሞ ገንዘብ በመቀነታችሁ አትያዙ፤ 9ጫማ አድርጉ፤ ነገር ግን ሁለት እጀ ጠባብ አትልበሱ፤ 10ወደ አንድ ቤት በምትገቡበት ጊዜ ከዚያች ከተማ እስክትወጡ ድረስ እዚያው ቈዩ፤ 11የትኛውም ቦታ የማይቀበላችሁ ወይም የማይሰማችሁ ከሆነ፣ ከዚያ ስፍራ ስትወጡ ምስክር እንዲሆንባቸው ከእግራችሁ ሥር ያለውን ትቢያ በዚያ አራግፉ።”
12እነርሱም ከዚያ ወጥተው፤ ሰዎች ንስሓ እንዲገቡ ሰበኩ፤ 13ብዙ አጋንንት አስወጡ፤ ብዙ ሕመምተኞችንም ዘይት እየቀቡ ፈወሱ።
የመጥምቁ ዮሐንስ መሰየፍ
6፥14-29 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 14፥1-12
6፥14-16 ተጓ ምብ – ሉቃ 9፥7-9
14የኢየሱስ ስም እየታወቀ በመምጣቱ፣ ንጉሥ ሄሮድስ ይህንኑ ሰማ። አንዳንዶችም፣ “የዚህ ዐይነት ታምር በእርሱ የሚሠራው መጥምቁ ዮሐንስ ከሙታን ቢነሣ ነው” ይሉ ነበር6፥14 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ይል ነበር ይላሉ።።
15ሌሎቹም፣ “ኤልያስ ነው” አሉ።
አንዳንዶች ደግሞ፣ “ከቀደምት ነቢያት እንደ አንዱ ነቢይ ነው” ይሉ ነበር።
16ሄሮድስ ነገሩን ሲሰማ ግን፣ “እኔ ራሱን ያስቈረጥሁት ዮሐንስ ከሙታን ተነሥቷል!” አለ።
17ሄሮድስ ራሱ የወንድሙን የፊልጶስን ሚስት ሄሮድያዳን በማግባቱ ምክንያት፣ ተይዞ እንዲታሰር ትእዛዝ በመስጠት ዮሐንስን ወህኒ ቤት አስገብቶት ነበር። 18ዮሐንስ ሄሮድስን፣ “የወንድምህን ሚስት ታገባት ዘንድ ሕግ ይከለክልሃል” ይለው ነበርና። 19ሄሮድያዳም በዚህ ቂም ይዛበት ልታስገድለው ፈለገች፤ ነገር ግን አልሆነላትም። 20ምክንያቱም ዮሐንስ ጻድቅና ቅዱስ ሰው መሆኑን ሄሮድስ በማወቁ ይፈራውና ይጠብቀው ነበር። ዮሐንስ የሚናገረውን ሲሰማ ሄሮድስ ቢታወክም6፥20 አንዳንድ የጥንት ቅጆች ብዙ ነገር ያደርግ ነበር ይላሉ። በደስታ ያደምጠው ነበር።
21በመጨረሻም አመቺ ቀን መጣ። ሄሮድስ በተወለደበት ዕለት ለከፍተኛ ሹማምቱ፣ ለጦር አዛዦቹና በገሊላ ለታወቁ ታላላቅ ሰዎች ግብዣ አደረገ። 22የሄሮድያዳም ልጅ ገብታ በዘፈነች ጊዜ ሄሮድስንና ተጋባዦቹን ደስ አሰኘቻቸው። ንጉሡም ብላቴናዪቱን፣ “የምትፈልጊውን ሁሉ ጠይቂኝ እሰጥሻለሁ” አላት። 23ደግሞም “እስከ መንግሥቴ እኩሌታ ድረስ እንኳ ቢሆን፣ የምትጠይቂኝን ሁሉ እሰጥሻለሁ” ሲል በመሐላ ቃል ገባላት።
24እርሷም ወጥታ እናቷን፣ “ምን ልለምነው?” አለቻት።
እናቷም፣ “የመጥምቁ ዮሐንስን ራስ” አለቻት።
25ብላቴናዪቱም ወዲያው ፈጥና ወደ ንጉሡ በመመለስ፣ “የመጥምቁ ዮሐንስን ራስ አሁን በሳሕን እንድትሰጠኝ እፈልጋለሁ” አለችው።
26ንጉሡ በነገሩ እጅግ ዐዘነ፤ በተጋበዙት እንግዶች ፊት የመሐላ ቃሉን ለማጠፍ አልፈለገም። 27ስለዚህ አንዱን ወታደር በፍጥነት ልኮ፣ የዮሐንስን ራስ ቈርጦ እንዲያመጣ አዘዘው፤ እርሱም ሄዶ በወህኒ ቤቱ ውስጥ ራሱን ቈረጠ፤ 28በሳሕን አምጥቶ ለብላቴናዪቱ ሰጣት፤ ብላቴናዪቱም ለእናቷ ሰጠች። 29የዮሐንስ ደቀ መዛሙርትም ይህን እንደ ሰሙ መጡ፤ ሬሳውንም ወስደው ቀበሩት።
ኢየሱስ አምስት ሺሕ ሰዎች መገበ
6፥32-44 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 14፥13-21፤ ሉቃ 9፥10-17፤ ዮሐ 6፥5-13
6፥32-44 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 8፥2-9
30ሐዋርያትም በኢየሱስ ዙሪያ ተሰብስበው የሠሩትንና ያስተማሩትን ሁሉ ነገሩት። 31ብዙ ሰዎች ይመጡና ይሄዱ ስለ ነበር ምግብ እንኳ ለመብላት ጊዜ ስላልነበራቸው፣ “እስቲ ብቻችሁን ከእኔ ጋር ወደ አንድ ገለልተኛ ስፍራ እንሂድና ጥቂት ዕረፉ” አላቸው።
32ስለዚህ ብቻቸውን ወደ አንድ ገለልተኛ ስፍራ በጀልባ ሄዱ። 33እነርሱም ሲሄዱ ብዙ ሰዎች አይተው ዐወቋቸው፤ ከከተሞችም ሁሉ በእግር እየሮጡ ቀድመዋቸው ደረሱ። 34ኢየሱስ ከጀልባዋ በሚወርድበት ጊዜ ብዙ ሕዝብ ተሰብስቦ አየ፤ እረኛ እንደሌላቸው በጎች ስለ ነበሩም ዐዘነላቸው፤ ብዙ ነገርም ያስተምራቸው ጀመር።
35በዚህ ጊዜ ቀኑ እየመሸ በመሄዱ ደቀ መዛሙርቱ ወደ እርሱ ቀርበው እንዲህ አሉት፤ “ይህ ቦታ ምድረ በዳ ነው፤ ቀኑም መሽቷል፤ 36በአካባቢው ሰው ወዳለበት መንደር ሄደው የሚበላ ነገር ገዝተው እንዲመገቡ ሕዝቡን አሰናብታቸው።”
37እርሱ ግን መልሶ፣ “የሚበሉትን እናንተው ስጧቸው” አላቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “ሄደን በሁለት መቶ ዲናር እንጀራ ገዝተን የሚበሉትን እንስጣቸውን?” አሉት።
38እርሱም፣ “ስንት እንጀራ አላችሁ? እስቲ ሄዳችሁ እዩ” አላቸው።
አይተውም፣ “አምስት እንጀራና ሁለት ዓሣ” አሉት።
39ከዚያም፣ ሕዝቡን በለመለመ ሣር ላይ በቡድን በቡድን እንዲያስቀምጡ አዘዛቸው። 40ሕዝቡም መቶ መቶና አምሳ አምሳ ሆነው በቡድን በቡድን ተቀመጡ። 41እርሱም አምስቱን እንጀራና ሁለቱን ዓሣ ይዞ ወደ ሰማይ በማየት ባረከ፤ እንጀራውንም ቈርሶ እንዲያቀርቡላቸው ለደቀ መዛሙርቱ ሰጠ፤ ሁለቱንም ዓሣ ለሁሉም አካፈለ። 42ሁሉም በልተው ጠገቡ፤ 43ደቀ መዛሙርቱም ከተበላው እንጀራና ዓሣ፣ ዐሥራ ሁለት መሶብ ሙሉ ፍርፋሪ አነሡ። 44እንጀራውንም የበሉት አምስት ሺሕ ወንዶች ነበሩ።
ኢየሱስ በባሕር ላይ በእግሩ ሄደ
6፥45-51 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 14፥22-32፤ ዮሐ 6፥15-21
6፥53-56 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 14፥34-36
45ወዲያውም እርሱ ሕዝቡን እያሰናበተ ሳለ፣ ደቀ መዛሙርቱ በጀልባ ወደ ቤተ ሳይዳ ቀድመውት እንዲሻገሩ አዘዛቸው፤ 46ከዚያም ትቷቸው ሊጸልይ ወደ ተራራ ወጣ።
47በመሸም ጊዜ ጀልባዋ ባሕሩ መካከል ነበረች፤ እርሱም ብቻውን በምድር ላይ ነበር። 48ነፋስ በርትቶባቸው ስለ ነበር፣ ደቀ መዛሙርቱ ከመቅዘፊያው ጋር ሲታገሉ አያቸው፤ በአራተኛውም ክፍለ ሌሊት ገደማ፣ በባሕር ላይ እየሄደ ወደ እነርሱ መጣ፤ በአጠገባቸውም ዐልፎ ሊሄድ ነበር። 49ነገር ግን በባሕር ላይ ሲሄድ ባዩት ጊዜ ምትሀት መስሏቸው ጮኹ፤ 50ሁሉም እርሱን ባዩት ጊዜ ደንግጠው ነበርና። እርሱም ወዲያውኑ አነጋገራቸውና፣ “አይዟችሁ እኔ ነኝ፤ አትፍሩ!” አላቸው። 51እርሱም በጀልባዋ ላይ ወጥቶ አብሯቸው ሆነ፤ ነፋሱም ተወ፤ እነርሱም እጅግ ተደነቁ። 52የእንጀራውን ታምር አላስተዋሉም ነበርና፤ ልባቸውም ደንድኖ ነበር።
53በተሻገሩም ጊዜ፣ ጌንሴሬጥ ደርሰው ወረዱ፤ ጀልባዋንም እዚያው አቆሙ። 54ወዲያው እንደ ወረዱም፣ ሕዝቡ ኢየሱስን ዐወቁት፤ 55ወደ አካባቢውም ሁሉ በመሮጥ ሕመምተኞችን በዐልጋ ላይ እየተሸከሙ እርሱ ወደሚገኝበት ስፍራ ሁሉ ያመጡ ነበር። 56በየደረሰበት መንደር ወይም ከተማ ወይም ገጠር ሁሉ ሕመምተኞችን በየአደባባዩ እያስቀመጡ የልብሱን ጫፍ እንኳ ለመንካት ይለምኑት ነበር፤ የነኩትም ሁሉ ይድኑ ነበር።
