Matthew 14

The Death of John the Baptist

14^vAt that time ^wHerod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ²and he said to his servants, ^x“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³For ^yHerod had seized John and bound him and ^zput him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,^{1 4}because John had been saying to him, ^a“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵And though he wanted to put him to death, ^bhe feared the people, because they held him to be ^ca prophet. ⁶But when Herod’s ^dbirthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹²And ^ehis disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, ^fhe withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore he ^gsaw a great crowd, and ^ghe had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; ^hsend the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said, “They need not go away; ⁱyou give them something to eat.” ¹⁷They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^jhe looked up to heaven and ^ksaid a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22lImmediately he ^mmade the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, ⁿhe went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When ^oevening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but the boat by this time was a long way² from the land,³ beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And ^lin the fourth watch of the night⁴ he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, ^pthey were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^q“Take heart; it is I. ^qDo not be afraid.”

²⁸And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and ^rwalked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind,⁵ he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ^s“Lord, save me.” ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ^t“O you of little faith, why did you ^udoubt?” ³²And when they got into the boat, ^sthe wind ceased. ³³And ^vthose in the boat ^wworshiped him, saying, ^x“Truly you are ^ythe Son of God.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^34zAnd when they had crossed over, they came to land at ^aGennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and ^bbrought to him all who were sick ³⁶and implored him that they might only touch ^cthe fringe of his garment. And ^das many as touched it were made well.