The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (A)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[a] name had become known. Some^[b] said, ^(B)“John the Baptist^[c] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (C)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(D)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (E)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(F)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (G)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(H)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(I)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(J)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(K)on his birthday ^(L)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(M)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste 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 the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[d] head. 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 ^(N)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 ^(A)At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, ^(C)“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For ^(D)Herod had seized John and bound him and ^(E)put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,^{[a] 4} because John had been saying to him, ^(F)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, ^(G)he feared the people, because they held him to be ^(H)a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod's ^(I)birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent 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 And ^(J)his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

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

^12 (A)So they went out and ^(B)proclaimed ^(C)that people should repent. ^13 (D)And they cast out many demons and ^(E)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

^6 (A)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (A)(B)The apostles returned to Jesus and told 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 many were coming and going, and ^(C)they had no leisure even to eat. ^32 (D)And they went away in ^(E)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going and ^(F)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When he went ashore he ^(G)saw a great crowd, and ^(H)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36 (I)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, ^(J)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(K)they said to him, ^(L)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(M)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(N)looked up to heaven and ^(O)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, ^(A)he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he ^(B)saw a great crowd, and ^(C)he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; ^(D)send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; ^(E)you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(F)he looked up to heaven and ^(G)said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(A)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(B)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(C)welcomed them and ^(D)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(E)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(F)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(G)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, ^(H)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(I)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(J)he looked up to heaven and ^(K)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 After this ^(A)Jesus went away to the other side of ^(B)the Sea of Galilee, which is ^(C)the Sea of Tiberias. ² And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. ³ Jesus went up on ^(D)the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ Now ^(E)the Passover, the ^(F)feast of the Jews, was at hand. ^5 (G)Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to ^(H)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. ^7 (I)Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, ^(J)Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five ^(K)barley loaves and two fish, but ^(L)what are they for so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” ^(M)Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and ^(N)when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ^(O)“This is indeed ^(P)the Prophet ^(Q)who is to come into the world!”

^15 (R)Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus ^(S)withdrew again to ^(T)the mountain by himself.