Matthew 14
King James Version
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Matthew 14
EasyEnglish Bible
Herod's soldiers kill John the Baptist
14 At that time, people told Herod about the things that Jesus was doing.[a] 2 Herod said to his servants, ‘That man Jesus is really John the Baptist. John died but he has become alive again. That is the reason why this man can do these very powerful things.’
3 Before that, Herod had commanded his soldiers, ‘Take hold of John. Tie his hands and feet and put him in prison.’ Herod had done this because of his wife Herodias. Before Herod married her, she was the wife of Herod's brother Philip. 4 John had said to Herod, ‘Herodias was your brother's wife. So it is not right for you to have her as your wife.’[b]
5 Herod wanted to tell his soldiers that they must kill John. But the people thought that John was a prophet from God. So Herod was afraid to kill him.
6 One day, when it was Herod's birthday, he asked people to come to a special meal. The daughter of Herodias danced in front of him and his visitors. Her dance caused Herod to become very happy. 7 He said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything that you want. I make a strong promise that I will give it to you.’ 8 Herodias suggested to her daughter, ‘Ask Herod to give you John's head.’ So the girl said to Herod, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate.’ 9 Then Herod felt sad. But he had made a special promise to the girl, and his visitors had heard him. So he sent his men to do what she had asked for. 10 He said to a soldier, ‘Go to the prison and cut off John's head.’ 11 The soldier did this. Then he brought the head on a plate and he gave it to the girl. The girl took it and gave it to her mother.
12 After this, John's disciples went to the prison. They took away John's body and they buried it. Then they went and they told Jesus what had happened.
Jesus gives food to 5,000 men and their families
13 Jesus heard about what had happened to John. After that, he went away from that place. He sailed in a boat to a quiet place where he could be alone. But the crowd heard where Jesus had gone. So they left their towns and they went on land to the place where he was going. 14 Jesus got out of the boat. He saw a large crowd there on the shore. He felt sorry for them. There were sick people among them and he made them well again.
15 When it was almost evening, Jesus' disciples came to speak to him. They said to him, ‘We are in a place where there are no houses. It will soon be dark. Send the crowd away now, so that they can go to the villages near here. Then they can buy some food for themselves to eat.’
16 Jesus said to them, ‘The people do not need to go away. You should give them some food to eat.’
17 But the disciples said, ‘We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.’
18 ‘Bring the bread and fish here to me,’ Jesus said. 19 Then he said to the large crowd, ‘Sit down on the grass.’ He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and he thanked God for the bread and the fish. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread to his disciples, and they gave them to the crowd. 20 Then everybody ate. They all had enough food and they were not hungry any more. Then the disciples picked up all the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with little bits of bread and fish. 21 About 5,000 men ate the bread and fish. Women and children also ate it with them.[c]
Jesus walks on the water
22 Immediately after this, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Get in the boat and sail across to the other side of the lake.’ Jesus said that he would first send the crowd away. Then he would also leave. 23 So Jesus sent the crowd away. After they had gone, he went up on a mountain alone to pray. When it became dark, he was still there alone. 24 At this time the boat with the disciples in it was in the middle of the lake. It was a long way from the land. The wind was blowing against the boat and the water was hitting it.
25 Then, when it was nearly dawn, Jesus walked on the water towards his disciples. 26 The disciples saw him walking on the water. They were very frightened. ‘It is a spirit,’ they said. They screamed loudly because they were afraid.
27 But immediately Jesus said to them. ‘Be brave! It is I. Do not be afraid.’
28 Peter replied, ‘Lord, is it really you? If it is you, say to me, “Come here! Walk to me on the water.” ’
29 Jesus said to him, ‘Come to me.’
So Peter got down out of the boat. He walked on the water and he came towards Jesus. 30 But then Peter saw that the wind was still blowing strongly. He became afraid and he began to go down into the water. He shouted to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me!’
31 Immediately, Jesus put out his hand and he took hold of Peter. He said to Peter, ‘You should trust me more than you do. Why did you not believe that I could help you?’
32 Jesus and Peter climbed up into the boat. Then the strong wind stopped. 33 The disciples who were in the boat went down on their knees. They praised Jesus and they said to him, ‘It is true. You are really the Son of God.’
34 They sailed across the lake and reached the shore at a place called Gennesaret.[d]
35 The people who lived in that place recognized Jesus. So they went to tell everyone who lived in places near there. People brought all their sick friends to him. 36 The sick people asked Jesus for help. They wanted to touch only the edge of his coat. Every sick person who touched him became well again.
Footnotes
- 14:1 Herod was the ruler in one of the four parts of Israel at that time.
- 14:4 Herodias had left Philip, her husband. Herod married her. So John told him what Moses had written in the Law. The Law said, ‘A man must not marry his brother's wife while his brother is still alive.’ Herod was not happy with John when he told him that. So Herod sent his men to put John in prison.
- 14:21 Only God could make five loaves of bread and two fish become enough to feed 5,000 men and their families. This showed them that God had caused Jesus to be very powerful.
- 14:34 Gennesaret was a part of the country on the west side of Lake Galilee.
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