Matthew 14–28

14TH CHAPTER

Recalling John’s Death—Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9

¹At that time Herod, ruler of Galilee, heard the news about Jesus. ²He said to his officials, “This is John the Baptizer! He has come back to life. That’s why he has the power to perform these miracles.” 

³Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him in prison. Herod did this for Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴John had been telling Herod, “It’s not right for you to be married to her.” ⁵So Herod wanted to kill John. However, he was afraid of the people because they thought John was a prophet. 

⁶When Herod celebrated his birthday, Herodias’ daughter danced for his guests. Herod was so delighted with her that ⁷he swore he would give her anything she wanted. 

⁸Urged by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.” 

⁹The king regretted his promise. But because of his oath and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted. ¹⁰He had John’s head cut off in prison. ¹¹So the head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. 

¹²John’s disciples came for the body and buried it. Then they went to tell Jesus. 

Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand—Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14

¹³When Jesus heard about John, he left in a boat and went to a place where he could be alone. The crowds heard about this and followed him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them and cured their sick people. 

¹⁵In the evening the disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. Send the crowds to the villages to buy food for themselves.” 

¹⁶Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 

¹⁷They told him, “All we have here are five loaves of bread and two fish.” 

¹⁸Jesus said, “Bring them to me.” 

¹⁹Then he ordered the people to sit down on the grass. After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart, gave them to the disciples, and they gave them to the people. ²⁰All of them ate as much as they wanted. When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets. 

²¹About five thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.) 

Jesus Walks on the Sea—Mark 6:45–56; John 6:15–21

²²Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. ²³After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone. 

²⁴The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind. 

²⁵Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid. 

²⁷Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!” 

²⁸Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” 

²⁹Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!” 

³¹Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?” 

³²When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. ³³The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.” 

³⁴They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. ³⁶They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well. 

15TH CHAPTER

Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions—Mark 7:1–23

¹Then some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings came from Jerusalem to Jesus. They asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” 

³He answered them, “Why do you break the commandment of God because of your traditions? ⁴For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘I have given to God whatever support you might have received from me,’ ⁶does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 

⁸‘These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

⁹Their worship of me is pointless, 

because their teachings are rules made by humans.’ ” 

¹⁰Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and try to understand! ¹¹What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make him unclean.^aIt’s what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.” 

¹²Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?” 

¹³He answered, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.” 

¹⁵Peter said to him, “Explain this illustration to us.” 

¹⁶Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷Don’t you know that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then into a toilet? ¹⁸But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. ¹⁹Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, ⸤other⸥ sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within. ²⁰These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating without washing one’s hands doesn’t make a person unclean.” 

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman—Mark 7:24–30

²¹Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 

²²A Canaanite woman from that territory came ⸤to him⸥ and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 

²³But he did not answer her at all. Then his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away. She keeps shouting behind us.” 

²⁴Jesus responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.” 

²⁵She came to him, bowed down, and said, “Lord, help me!” 

²⁶Jesus replied, “It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

²⁷She said, “You’re right, Lord. But even the dogs eat scraps that fall from their masters’ tables.” 

²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, you have strong faith! What you wanted will be done for you.” At that moment her daughter was cured. 

²⁹Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain and sat there. 

³⁰A large crowd came to him, bringing with them the lame, blind, disabled, those unable to talk, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he cured them. ³¹The crowd was amazed to see mute people talking, the disabled cured, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel. 

Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand—Mark 8:1–10

³²Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the people. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they may become exhausted on their way home.” 

³³His disciples asked him, “Where could we get enough bread to feed such a crowd in this place where no one lives?” 

³⁴Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” 

They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 

³⁵He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, and they gave the bread and fish to the people. 

³⁷All of them ate as much as they wanted. The disciples picked up the leftover pieces and filled seven large baskets. ³⁸Four thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.) 

³⁹After he sent the people on their way, Jesus stepped into the boat and came to the territory of Magadan. 

16TH CHAPTER

The Pharisees Ask for a Sign from Heaven—Mark 8:11–13a

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. So they asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven. 

²He responded to them, “In the evening you say that the weather will be fine because the sky is red. ³And in the morning you say that there will be a storm today because the sky is red and overcast. You can forecast the weather by judging the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 

⁴“Evil and unfaithful people look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will be given is that of Jonah.” 

Then he left them standing there and went away. 

The Yeast of the Pharisees—Mark 8:13b–21

⁵The disciples had forgotten to take any bread along when they went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 

⁶Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 

⁷The disciples had been discussing among themselves that they had not taken any bread along. 

⁸Jesus knew about their conversation and asked, “Why are you discussing among yourselves that you don’t have any bread? You have so little faith! ⁹Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you filled? ¹⁰Don’t you remember the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you filled? ¹¹Why don’t you understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 

¹²Then they understood that he didn’t say to watch out for the yeast in bread, but to watch out for the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Peter Declares His Belief about Jesus—Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–21

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of…