Jesus Walks on the Water^(A)

⁴⁵ At once Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, on the other side of the lake, while he sent the crowd away. ⁴⁶ After saying good-bye to the people, he went away to a hill to pray. ⁴⁷ When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, while Jesus was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because they were rowing against the wind; so sometime between three and six o'clock in the morning, he came to them, walking on the water. He was going to pass them by,^{[a] 49} but they saw him walking on the water. “It's a ghost!” they thought, and screamed. ⁵⁰ They were all terrified when they saw him.

Jesus spoke to them at once, “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don't be afraid!” ⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely amazed, ⁵² because they had not understood the real meaning of the feeding of the five thousand; their minds could not grasp it.