^7 (A)Now ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(C)John had risen from the dead, ⁸ and by some that ^(D)Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And ^(E)he kept trying to see Him.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (A)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(B)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(C)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(E)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(F)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And ^(G)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(H)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he ^[a]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, ^(I)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people ^(J)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(K)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[b]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to ^(L)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and ^[c]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^[a](A)At that time ^[b](B)Herod ^[c]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(C)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(E)in prison because of ^(F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[d]John as ^(H)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(I)Herodias danced ^[e]before them and pleased ^(J)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^[f]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word 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 [g]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[h]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Men Fed

^13 (K)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[i]people heard about this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He came ^[j]ashore, He ^(L)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(M)healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have nothing here except ^(N)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ And ordering the crowds to ^[k]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He ^(O)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, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full ^(P)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

^30 (A)The ^(B)apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^(C)they did not even have time to eat.) ^32 (D)And they went away in ^(E)the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Men Fed

³³ The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ^[a]ashore, He ^(F)saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ^(G)they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “^[b]This place is secluded and it is already late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves ^[c]something to eat.” ³⁷ But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” ^(H)And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^[d](I)denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ But He *said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they *said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(J)blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied; ⁴³ and they picked up twelve full ^(K)baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. ⁴⁴ There were ^(L)five thousand ^[e]men who ate the loaves.

^10 (A)When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ^(B)And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called ^(C)Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Men Fed

¹² Now the day ^[a]was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get ^[b]something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.” ¹³ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (For there were about five thousand men.) But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat ^(D)in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did so, and had them all recline. ¹⁶ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied; and ^[c]the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ^(E)baskets full.

Five Thousand Men Fed

6 After these things ^(A)Jesus went away to the other side of ^(B)the Sea of Galilee (or ^(C)Tiberias). ² A large crowd was following Him, because they were watching the ^[a](D)signs which He was performing on those who were sick. ³ But ^(E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. ⁴ Now ^(F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to ^(G)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” ⁶ But He was saying this only to ^(H)test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do. ^7 (I)Philip answered Him, “^(J)Two hundred ^[b]denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!” ⁸ One of His ^(K)disciples, ^(L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two ^(M)fish; but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was ^(N)plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about ^[c](O)five thousand in number. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and ^(P)after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the ^(Q)fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they had eaten their fill, He *said to His ^(R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve ^(S)baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Therefore when the people saw the ^[d]sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the ^(T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

¹⁵ So Jesus, aware that they ^[e]intended to come and take Him by force ^(U)to make Him king, ^(V)withdrew again to ^(W)the mountain by Himself, alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (A)And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into ^(B)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to ^(C)Bethsaida, while He Himself *dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after ^(D)saying goodbye to them, He left ^(E)for the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing them ^[a]straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the ^[b](F)fourth watch of the night, He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were ^[c]terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “^(G)Take courage; it is I, ^(H)do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into ^(I)the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, ⁵² for ^(J)they ^[d]had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but ^[e]their hearts ^(K)were hardened.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (A)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(B)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 ^[a]a long distance from the land, ^[b]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[c](C)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(D)the ^[d]fourth 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 ^(E)a ghost!” And they cried out ^[e]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(F)Take courage, ^[f]it is I; ^(G)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if ^[g]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 when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^(H)You 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 truly ^(I)God’s Son!”