Matthew 14:1-21

Easy-to-Read Version

Herod Thinks Jesus Is John the Baptizer^(A)

14 About that time, Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard what the people were saying about Jesus. ² So he said to his servants, “This man is really John the Baptizer. He must have risen from death, and that is why he can do these miracles.”

How John the Baptizer Was Killed

³ Before this time, Herod had arrested John. He had him chained and put in prison. He arrested John because of Herodias, the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. ⁴ John had told him, “It is not right for you to be married to Herodias.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the people. They believed that John was a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for him and his group. Herod was very pleased with her. ⁷ So he promised that he would give her anything she wanted. ⁸ Herodias told her daughter what to ask for. So she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptizer here on this plate.”

⁹ King Herod was very sad. But he had promised to give the daughter anything she wanted. And the people eating with Herod had heard his promise. So he ordered what she asked to be done. ¹⁰ He sent men to the prison, where they cut off John’s head. ¹¹ And the men brought John’s head on a plate and gave it to the girl. Then she took the head to her mother, Herodias. ¹² John’s followers came and got his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what happened.

Jesus Feeds More Than 5000^(B)

¹³ When Jesus heard what happened to John, he left in a boat. He went alone to a place where no one lived. But the people heard that Jesus had left. So they left their towns and followed him. They went by land to the same place he went. ¹⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd of people. He felt sorry for them, and he healed the ones who were sick.

¹⁵ Late that afternoon, the followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “The people don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”

¹⁷ The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”

¹⁸ Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.” ¹⁹ Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people. ²⁰ Everyone ate until they were full. When they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. ²¹ There were about 5000 men there who ate. There were also women and children who ate.