Chapter 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

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

2 and 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

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

Five Thousand Fed

13 aNow 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.

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

15 When 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.”

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

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

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

19 Ordering 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,

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

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

Jesus Walks on the Water

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

23 After 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 15

Tradition and Commandment

1 aThen some Pharisees and scribes * came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said,

2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4 “For God said, ‘aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to 1be put to death.’

5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been 1given to God,”

6 he is not to honor his father or his mother1.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8 ‘aThis people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as adoctrines the precepts of men.’ ”

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

11 “aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

12 Then the disciples * came and * said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were 1offended when they heard this statement?”

13 But He answered and said, “aEvery plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

14 “Let them alone; athey are blind guides 1of the blind. And bif a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

15 Peter 1said to Him, “aExplain the parable to us.”

16 1Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also?

17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is 1eliminated?

18 “But athe things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

19 “aFor out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 1fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

21 aJesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of bTyre and bSidon.

22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, aSon of David; my daughter is cruelly bdemon-possessed.”

23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting 1at us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 But she came and abegan 1to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26 And He answered and said, “It is not 1good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; 1but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ayour faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed 1at once.

Healing Crowds

29 aDeparting from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.

30 And 1large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and aHe healed them.

31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled 1restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they aglorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

32 aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “bI feel compassion for the 1people, because they 2have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

33 The disciples * said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

34 And Jesus * said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

35 And He directed the 1people to 2sit down on the ground;

36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and agiving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full.

38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into athe boat and came to the region of bMagadan.

Chapter 16

Pharisees Test Jesus

1 aThe bPharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they casked Him to show them a 1sign from heaven.

2 But He replied to them, “1aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

3 “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ aDo you know how to discern the 1appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?

4 “aAn evil and adulterous generation seeks after a 1sign; and a 1sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.

6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.”

7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”

8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “aYou men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

9 “Do you not yet understand or remember athe five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

10 “Or athe seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?

11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But abeware of the 1leaven of the bPharisees and Sadducees.”

12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the aPharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

13 aNow when Jesus came into the district of bCaesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that cthe Son of Man is?”

14 And they said, “Some say aJohn the Baptist; and others, 1bElijah; but still others, 2Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

15 He * said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are 1athe Christ, bthe Son of cthe living God.”

17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, aSimon 1Barjona, because bflesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 “I also say to you that you are 1aPeter, and upon this 2rock I will build My church; and the gates of bHades will not overpower it.

19 “I will give you athe keys of the kingdom of heaven; and bwhatever you bind on earth 1shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth 2shall have been loosed in heaven.”

20 aThen He 1warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was 2bthe Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

21 aFrom that time 1Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and bsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “1God forbid it, Lord! This shall never 2happen to You.”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on 1God’s interests, but man’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and atake up his cross and follow Me.

25 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it; but whoever loses his 1life for My sake will find it.

26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 “For the aSon of Man bis going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and cwill then 1repay every man according to his 2deeds.

28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the aSon of Man bcoming in His kingdom.”