Matthew 14-15

New King James Version

John the Baptist Beheaded^(A)

14 At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” ^3 (C)For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. ⁴ Because John had said to him, ^(D)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, ^(E)because they counted him as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. ⁷ Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸ So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”

⁹ And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. ¹⁰ So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(F)

^13 (G)When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He ^(H)was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. ^15 (I)When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, ^(J)He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. ²⁰ So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. ²¹ Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(K)

²² Immediately Jesus ^[a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ^23 (L)And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. ^(M)Now when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴ But the boat was now ^[b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him ^(N)walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^[c]“Be of good ^(O)cheer! ^[d]It is I; do not be afraid.”

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

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw ^[e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of ^(P)little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ Then those who were in the boat ^[f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly ^(Q)You are the Son of God.”

Many Touch Him and Are Made Well^(R)

^34 (S)When they had crossed over, they came ^[g]to the land of Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, ³⁶ and begged Him that they might only ^(T)touch the hem of His garment. And ^(U)as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

Defilement Comes from Within^(V)

15 Then ^(W)the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ^2 (X)“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³ He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, saying, ^(Y)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(Z)‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ^(AA)“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— ⁶ then he need not honor his father ^[h]or mother.’ Thus you have made the ^[i]commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ^7 (AB)Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

^10 (AE)When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ^11 (AF)Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

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

¹³ But He answered and said, ^(AG)“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone. ^(AH)They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

^15 (AI)Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶ So Jesus said, ^(AJ)“Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not yet understand that ^(AK)whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(AL)those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ^19 (AM)For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

A Gentile Shows Her Faith^(AN)

^21 (AO)Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, ^(AP)Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

²³ But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

²⁴ But He answered and said, ^(AQ)“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵ Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little ^(AR)dogs.”

²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, ^(AS)great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Heals Great Multitudes^(AT)

^29 (AU)Jesus departed from there, ^(AV)skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. ^30 (AW)Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, ^[k]maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ ^(AX)feet, and He healed them. ³¹ So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the ^[l]maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^(AY)glorified the God of Israel.

Feeding the Four Thousand^(AZ)

^32 (BA)Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

^33 (BB)Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”

And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

³⁵ So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ And ^(BC)He took the seven loaves and the fish and ^(BD)gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. ³⁷ So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. ³⁸ Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ^39 (BE)And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of ^[m]Magdala.