Matthew 14 - 15
John the Baptist Beheaded
14aAt 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.” 5And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding 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. 8Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of 1his dinner guests. 10And he 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. 12And his disciples came and took away the body and buried 1it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
13aNow 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. 14And when He went 1ashore, He asaw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and bhealed their sick.
15Now 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.” 16But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” 17But they *said to Him, “We have here only afive loaves and two fish.” 18And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19And ordering the crowds to 1sit 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. 21And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Sea
22aImmediately He 1made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23And 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. 24But the boat was already many 1stadia away from the land, 2being battered by the waves; for the wind was 3,aagainst them. 25And in athe 1fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26Now when 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, 1it is I; bdo not be afraid.”
28And Peter answered and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29And He said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “aYou of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly aGod’s Son!”
34aAnd when 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 were pleading with Him that they might just touch athe fringe of His garment; and as many as btouched it were cured.
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
15aThen 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.” 3And 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 you might benefit from me 1is given to God,” 6he need not 1honor 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‘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 commands of men.’”10After 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.”
12Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were 1offended when they heard this statement?” 13But 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
15Now Peter answered and said to Him, “aExplain the parable to us.” 16And 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 goes into the sewer? 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, 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
21aAnd going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of bTyre and cSidon. 22And behold, 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.” 23But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting 1at us.” 24But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and 1,awas bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26And He answered and said, “It is not 1good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27But she said, “Yes, Lord; 1but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered and 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.
Jesus Heals the Crowds
29aAnd departing from there, Jesus went along by bthe Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30And 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. 31So 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.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32aAnd Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “bI feel compassion for the crowd, because they 1have 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.” 33And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35And He directed the crowd to 1sit down on the ground; 36and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and agiving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large abaskets full. 38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.