Matthew 14–28

John the Baptist’s Head Is Cut Off

14At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, heard reports about Jesus. ²He said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead! That is why he has the power to do miracles.”

³Herod had arrested John. He had tied him up and put him in prison because of Herodias. She was the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. ⁴John had been saying to Herod, “It is against the Law for you to have her.” ⁵Herod wanted to kill John. But he was afraid of the people, because they thought John was a prophet.

⁶On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests. She pleased Herod very much. ⁷So he promised with an oath to give her anything she asked for. ⁸Her mother told her what to say. So the girl said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist on a big plate.”

⁹The king was very upset. But he thought of his promise and his dinner guests. So he told one of his men to give her what she asked for. ¹⁰Herod had John’s head cut off in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought in on a big plate and given to the girl. She then carried it to her mother.

¹²John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³Jesus heard what had happened to John. He wanted to be alone. So he went in a boat to a quiet place. The crowds heard about this. They followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When Jesus came ashore, he saw a large crowd. He felt deep concern for them. He healed their sick people.

¹⁵When it was almost evening, the disciples came to him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “It’s already getting late. Send the crowds away. They can go and buy some food in the villages.”

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

¹⁷“We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹Then Jesus directed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke the loaves into pieces. Then he gave them to the disciples. And the disciples gave them to the people.

²⁰All of them ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces. ²¹The number of men who ate was about 5,000. Women and children also ate.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²²Right away Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. He had them go on ahead of him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then he sent the crowd away. ²³After he had sent them away, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴The boat was already a long way from land. It was being pounded by the waves because the wind was blowing against it.

²⁵Early in the morning, Jesus went out to the disciples. He walked on the lake. ²⁶They saw him walking on the lake and were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said. And they cried out in fear.

²⁷Right away Jesus called out to them, “Be brave! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸“Lord, is it you?” Peter asked. “If it is, tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” Jesus said.

So Peter got out of the boat. He walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid. He began to sink. He cried out, “Lord! Save me!”

³¹Right away Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “Your faith is so small!” he said. “Why did you doubt me?”

³²When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those in the boat worshiped Jesus. They said, “You really are the Son of God!”

³⁴They crossed over the lake and landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵The men who lived there recognized Jesus. So they sent a message all over the nearby countryside. People brought all their sick to Jesus. ³⁶They begged him to let those who were sick just touch the edge of his clothes. And all who touched him were healed.

What Makes People “Unclean”?

15Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked, ²“Why don’t your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³Jesus replied, “And why don’t you obey God’s command? You would rather follow your own teachings! ⁴God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ He also said, ‘If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to death.’ ⁵But you allow people to say to their parents, ‘Any help you might have received from us is a gift set apart for God.’ ⁶So they do not need to honor their parents with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings.

⁷“You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,

⁸“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.

But their hearts are far away from me.

⁹Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.

They teach nothing but human rules.’ ”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into your mouth does not make you ‘unclean.’ It’s what comes out of your mouth that makes you ‘unclean.’ ”

¹²Then the disciples came to him. They asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were angry when they heard this?”

¹³Jesus replied, “There are plants that my Father in heaven has not planted. They will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them. The Pharisees are blind guides. If a blind person leads another who is blind, both of them will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain this to us.”

¹⁶“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷“Don’t you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make you ‘unclean.’ ¹⁹Evil thoughts come out of the heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others. ²⁰Those are the things that make you ‘unclean.’ But eating without washing your hands does not make you ‘unclean.’ ”

The Faith of a Woman From Canaan

²¹Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. ²²A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”

²³Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”

²⁵Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.

²⁶He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she said. “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owners’ table.”

²⁸Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

²⁹Jesus left there. He walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰Large crowds came to him. They brought blind people and those who could not walk. They also brought disabled people, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them.

³¹The people were amazed. Those who could not speak were speaking. The disabled were made well. Those not able to walk were walking. Those who were blind could see. So the people praised the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, “I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home.”

³³His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?”

³⁴“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples passed them out to the people. ³⁷All of them ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. ³⁸The number of men who ate was 4,000. Women and children also ate.

³⁹After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat. He went to the area near Magadan.

Jesus Is Asked for a Miraculous Sign

16The Pharisees and Sadducees came to put Jesus to the test. They asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven.

²He replied, “In the evening you look at the sky. You say, ‘It will be good weather. The sky is red.’ ³And in the morning you say, ‘Today it will be stormy. The sky is red and cloudy.’ You know the meaning of what you see in the sky. But you can’t understand the signs of what is happening right now. ⁴An evil and unfaithful people look for a miraculous sign. But none will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.”

Then Jesus left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵The disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake. They had forgotten to take bread. ⁶“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷The disciples talked about this among themselves. They said, “He must be saying this because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Jesus knew what they were saying. So he said, “Your faith is so small! Why are you talking to each other about having no bread? ⁹Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000? Don’t you remember how many baskets of pieces you gathered? ¹⁰Don’t you remember the seven loaves for the 4,000? Don’t you remember how many baskets of pieces you gathered? ¹¹How can you possibly not understand? I wasn’t talking to you about bread. But watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then the disciples understood that Jesus was not telling them to watch out for the yeast used in bread. He was warning them against what the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.

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