Matthew 14 - 16 - Legacy Standard Bible

Matthew 14 - 16

John the Baptist Beheaded

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding John as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. 10 And 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 And his disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; 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 But they *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed 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 baskets. 21 And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 And after He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, being battered by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 Now when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly God’s Son!” 34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they were pleading with Him that they might just touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were cured.

God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions

Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do 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, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ 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

‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’”

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 It 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 offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

15 Now Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And Jesus 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 goes into the sewer? 18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, 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 Canaanite Woman

21 And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and was bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

Jesus Heals the Crowds

29 And departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And large 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 He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And 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 crowd to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When 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.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? 4 An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. 5 And coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 Now they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 Or the 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 beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Take Up Your Cross

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life 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 Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay each one according to his deeds. 28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”