^7 (A)Now ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard of 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 again. ⁹ And 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 the Baptist Beheaded

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

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (A)And King Herod heard 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 it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent 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 (G)Now Herodias was holding a grudge against him and was wanting to put him to death and was not able; ²⁰ for ^(H)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; ^[a]but he ^[b]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ And a strategic day came when Herod on his birthday ^(I)gave a banquet for his great men and ^[c]military commanders and the leading men ^(J)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(K)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[d]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 And 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, yet because of his oaths and because of ^[e]his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ And 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 And when his disciples heard this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

^30 (M)And the ^(N)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 desolate place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^(O)they did not even have time to eat.) ^32 (P)And they went away in ^(Q)the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

³³ And 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 And when Jesus went ^[f]ashore, He ^(R)saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ^(S)they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and began saying, “^[g]This place is desolate and it is already quite late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves ^[h]something to eat.” ³⁷ But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat!” ^(T)And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^[i](U)denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” ³⁸ And 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 commanded them all to ^[j]sit down by ^[k]groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ And they ^[l]sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(V)blessed the food and broke the loaves. And He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them, and He divided up the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and they picked up twelve full ^(W)baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. ⁴⁴ And there were ^(X)five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

^45 (Y)And immediately Jesus made His disciples get into ^(Z)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to ^(AA)Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. ⁴⁶ And after ^(AB)bidding them farewell, He left ^(AC)for the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ And when it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And seeing them ^[m]straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the ^[n](AD)fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He was intending to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were ^[o]terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “^(AE)Take courage; it is I, ^(AF)do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into ^(AG)the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were ^[p]utterly amazed, ⁵² for ^(AH)they ^[q]had not gained any insight about the loaves, but their ^[r]heart ^(AI)was hardened.

Many Healed at Gennesaret

^53 (AJ)And when they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that whole region and began to carry here and there on their mats those who were sick, to ^[s]the place they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He was entering villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces, and pleading with Him that they might just ^(AK)touch ^(AL)the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were being ^[t]saved from their sicknesses.