Matthew 14–28

Herod Kills John the Baptist

14At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus ²and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and for this reason miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³For Herod, after^* arresting John, bound him and put him^* in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, ⁴because John had been saying to him, “It is not permitted for you to have her.” ⁵And although he^* wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they looked upon him as a prophet.

⁶But when^* Herod’s birthday celebration took place, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of them and pleased Herod. ⁷Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸And coached by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter!” ⁹And although^* the king was distressed, because of his oaths and his dinner guests^a he commanded the request^* to be granted. ¹⁰And he sent orders^* 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 his disciples came and^* took away the corpse and buried it, and went and^* told Jesus.

The Feeding of Five Thousand

¹³Now when^* Jesus heard it,^* he withdrew from there in a boat to an isolated place by himself. And when^* the crowds heard it,^* they followed him by land from the towns. ¹⁴And as he^* got out, he saw the large crowd and had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵Now when it^* was evening, the disciples came to him saying, “The place is desolate and the hour is late.^b Release the crowds so that they can go away into the villages and^* purchase food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need^c to go away. You give them something^* to eat.” ¹⁷And they said to him, “We do not have anything^* here except five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸So he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹And he commanded the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and^* looking up to heaven, he gave thanks. And after^* breaking them,^* he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them^* to the crowds. ²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹Now those who ate were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²²And immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent away the crowds. ²³And after he^* sent away the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. So when^* evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴But the boat was already many stadia distant from the land, being beaten by the waves, because the wind was against it. ²⁵And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶But the disciples, when they^* saw him walking on the sea, were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Have courage, I am he! Do not be afraid!” ²⁸And Peter answered him and^* said, “Lord, if it is you,^d command me to come to you on the water!” ²⁹So he said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he^* saw the strong wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” ³¹And immediately Jesus extended his^e hand and^* caught him and said to him, “You of little faith! Why did you doubt?” ³²And when^* they got into the boat, the wind abated. ³³So those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”

Many Healed at Gennesaret

³⁴And after they^* had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵And when^* the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into that whole surrounding region, and they brought to him all those who were sick.^{f 36}And they were imploring him that they might only touch the edge^g of his cloak, and all those who touched it^* were cured.

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”^{a 3}So he answered and^* said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your^* father and your^* mother,’^b and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^c.’^{d 5}But you say, ‘Whoever says to his^* father or his^* mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^e from me is a gift to God,” ⁶need not honor his father,’^f and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

⁸‘This people honors me with their^* lips,

but their heart is far, far away from me,

⁹and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”^g

Defilement from Within

¹⁰And summoning the crowd, he said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” ¹²Then the disciples came and^* said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they^* heard this saying?” ¹³And he answered and^* said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let^h them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter answered and^* said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not understand that everything that enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is evacuated into the latrine? ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person. ¹⁹For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. ²⁰These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!”

A Canaanite Woman’s Great Faith

²¹And departing from there, Jesus went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came and cried out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came up and^* asked him, saying, “Send her away, because she is crying out after us!” ²⁴But he answered and^* said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and^* knelt down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶And he answered and^* said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it^* to the dogs!” ²⁷So she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you want.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Many Others Healed in Galilee

²⁹And departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up on the mountain and^* was sitting there. ³⁰And large crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, crippled,ⁱ and many others, and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹So then the crowd was astonished when they^* saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.

The Feeding of Four Thousand

³²And Jesus summoned his disciples and^* said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry lest they give out on the way.” ³³And the disciples said to him, “Where in this desolate place can we get^j so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” So they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” ³⁵And commanding the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, ³⁶he took the seven loaves and the fish and after he^* had given thanks, he broke them^* and began giving^k them^* to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. ³⁸Now those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. ³⁹And after he^* sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

The Signs of the Times

16And when^* the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him,^* they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ²So he answered and^* said to them, “When^* evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’ ³and early in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy weather, because the sky is red and^* darkening.’ You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able to evaluate^* the signs of the times. ⁴An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!” And he left them and^* went away.

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵And when^* the disciples arrived at the other side,^a they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them, “Watch out for and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ⁷So they were discussing this^* among themselves, saying, “It is because we did not take bread.” ⁸But knowing this,^* Jesus said, “Why are you discussing among yourselves that you did not take bread,^b you of little faith? ⁹Do you not yet understand or do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? ¹¹How do you not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ¹²Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven…