Matthew 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

¹At that time ^a Herod the tetrarch ^b heard the report about Jesus. ²“This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^c

³For Herod had arrested John, chained ^d him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ^{e 4}since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful ^f for you to have her.” ⁵Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet. ^g

⁶When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them ^h and pleased Herod. ⁷So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” ⁹Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. ¹⁰So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹²Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, ⁱ buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.

Feeding of the Five Thousand

¹³When Jesus heard about it, ^j he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, ^k he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick. ^l

¹⁵When evening came, the disciples ^m approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. ⁿ Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

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

¹⁷“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to him.

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹Then he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ^{o 20}Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. ^{p 21}Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Walking on the Water

²²Immediately ^q he ^r made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. ^{s 24}Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance ^t from land, ^u battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. ²⁵Jesus came toward them walking on the sea ^v very early in the morning. ^{w 26}When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost! ” they said, and they cried out in fear.

²⁷Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^x

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹He said, “Come.”

And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the strength of the wind, ^y he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me! ”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? ”^z

³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.” ^aa

Miraculous Healings

³⁴When they had crossed over, ^ab they came to shore at Gennesaret. ^{ac 35}When the men of that place recognized him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to him all who were sick. ³⁶They begged him that they might only touch the end of his robe, and as many as touched it were healed. ^ad