Matthew 14

Chapter 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

^1aAt that ¹time ^bHerod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus,

²and said to his servants, “^aThis is John the Baptist; ¹he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³For when ^aHerod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^bin prison because of ^cHerodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

⁴For John had been saying to him, “^aIt is not lawful for you to have her.”

⁵Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ¹John as ^aa prophet.

⁶But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^aHerodias danced ¹before them and pleased ^bHerod,

⁷so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

⁸Having been prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

⁹Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ¹his dinner guests.

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.

¹²His disciples came and took away the body and buried ¹it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

^13aNow when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ¹people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

¹⁴When He went ¹ashore, He ^asaw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^bhealed their sick.

¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ¹late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

¹⁷They said to Him, “We have here only ^afive loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

¹⁹Ordering the ¹people to ²sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^ablessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,

²⁰and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full ^abaskets.

²¹There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22aImmediately He ¹made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

²³After He had sent the crowds away, ^aHe went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

²⁴But the boat was already ¹a long distance from the land, ²battered by the waves; for the wind was ^3acontrary.

²⁵And in ^athe ¹fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^aa ghost!” And they cried out ¹in fear.

²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^aTake courage, it is I; ^bdo not be afraid.”

²⁸Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

³⁰But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “^aYou of little faith, why did you doubt?”

³²When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

³³And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly ^aGod’s Son!”

^34aWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at ^bGennesaret.

³⁵And when the men of that place ¹recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;

³⁶and they implored Him that they might just touch ^athe fringe of His cloak; and as many as ^btouched it were cured.