Mark 6:19–56

19 aHerodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;

20 for aHerod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; 1but he 2used to enjoy listening to him.

21 A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday agave a banquet for his lords and 1military commanders and the leading men bof Galilee;

22 and when the daughter of aHerodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and 1his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”

23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to ahalf of my kingdom.”

24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”

25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of 1his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,

28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

29 When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

30 aThe bapostles * gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

31 And He * said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and athey did not even have time to eat.)

32 aThey went away in bthe boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Fed

33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.

34 When Jesus went 1ashore, He asaw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because bthey were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “1This place is desolate and it is already quite late;

36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves 1something to eat.”

37 But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” aAnd they * said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred 1bdenarii on bread and give them something to eat?”

38 And He * said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they * said, “Five, and two fish.”

39 And He commanded them all to 1sit down by groups on the green grass.

40 They 1sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.

41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ablessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and they picked up twelve full abaskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.

44 There were afive thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 aImmediately Jesus made His disciples get into bthe boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to cBethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

46 After abidding them farewell, He left bfor the mountain to pray.

47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.

48 Seeing them 1straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the 2afourth watch of the night He * came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.

49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;

50 for they all saw Him and were 1terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and * said to them, “aTake courage; it is I, bdo not be afraid.”

51 Then He got into athe boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,

52 for athey 1had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but 2their heart bwas hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

53 aWhen they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.

54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,

55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to 1the place they heard He was.

56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just atouch bthe fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.