Matthew 14-15

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Death of John the Baptist

14 At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus,^{(A) 2} and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” ³ For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,^{(B) 4} because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”^{(C) 5} Though Herod^[a] wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet.^{(D) 6} But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod ⁷ so much that he promised on oath to grant 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 The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; ¹⁰ he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and took the body and buried him; then they went and told Jesus.

Feeding the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.^{(E) 15} When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”^{(F) 18} And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(G) 20} And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,^{(H) 24} but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land,^[b] for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.^{(I) 27} But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”^(J)

²⁸ Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he noticed the strong wind,^[c] he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”^{(K) 32} When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”^(L)

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵ After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word to that whole surrounding region, and people brought all who were sick to him ³⁶ and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.^(M)

The Tradition of the Elders

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”^{(N) 3} He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said,^[d] ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’^{(O) 5} But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’^[e] then that person need not honor the father.^{[f](P) 6} So, for the sake of your tradition, you nullify the word^[g] of God. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

Things That Defile

¹⁰ Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹ it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”^{(S) 12} Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³ He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.^{(T) 14} Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.^[h] And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”^{(U) 15} But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”^{(V) 16} Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding?^{(W) 17} Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.^{(X) 19} For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.^{(Y) 20} These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

The Canaanite Woman’s Faith

²¹ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”^{(Z) 23} But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”^{(AA) 25} But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”^{(AB) 26} He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’^[i] table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.^(AC)

Jesus Cures Many People

²⁹ After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the maimed, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them,^{(AD) 31} so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.^(AE)

Feeding the Four Thousand

³² Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”^{(AF) 33} The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” ³⁴ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(AG) 37} And all of them ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ³⁸ Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.^[j]