Matthew 14-16

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

14 At that time Herod the governor heard the reports about Jesus,

² And he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; He has been raised from the dead, and that is why the powers ^[a]of performing miracles are at work in Him.

³ For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison [to ^[b]stow him out of the way] on account and for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

⁴ For John had said to him, It is not lawful or right for you to have her.^(A)

⁵ Although he wished to have him put to death, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst [before the company] and pleased and fascinated Herod,

⁷ And so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸ And she, being put forward and prompted by her mother, said, Give me the head of John the Baptist right here on a ^[c]platter.

⁹ And the king was distressed and sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered it to be given her;

¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

¹¹ And his head was brought in on a ^[d]platter and given ^[e]to the little maid, and she brought it to her mother.

¹² And John’s disciples came and took up the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

¹³ When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place. But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.

¹⁴ When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion (pity and deep sympathy) for them and cured their sick.

¹⁵ When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

¹⁶ Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.

¹⁷ They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.

¹⁸ He said, Bring them here to Me.

¹⁹ Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [^[f]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

²¹ And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.

²² Then He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent away the crowds.

²³ And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone.

²⁴ But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.

²⁵ And in the fourth watch [between 3:00—6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.

²⁷ But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!^(B)

²⁸ And 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 and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.

³⁰ But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!

³¹ Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!

³⁴ And when they had crossed over to the other side, they went ashore at Gennesaret.

³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent around into all the surrounding country and brought to Him all who were sick

³⁶ And begged Him to let them merely touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were perfectly restored.^(C)

15 Then from Jerusalem came scribes and Pharisees and said,

² Why do Your disciples transgress and violate the rules handed down by the elders of the past? For they do not practice [ceremonially] washing their hands before they eat.

³ He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)?

⁴ For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death.^(D)

⁵ But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, What you would have gained from me [that is, the money and whatever I have that might be used for helping you] is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt and no longer under obligation to honor and help his father or his mother.

⁶ So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].

⁷ You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said:

⁸ These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

⁹ Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.^(E)

¹⁰ And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this:

¹¹ It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

¹² Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased and offended and indignant when they heard this saying?

¹³ He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be torn up by the roots.^(F)

¹⁴ Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.

¹⁵ But Peter said to Him, Explain this ^[g]proverb (this ^[h]maxim) to us.

¹⁶ And He said, Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and ^[i]unable to put things together]?

¹⁷ Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the ^[j]abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited?

¹⁸ But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.

²⁰ These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him].

²¹ And going away from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!

²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.

²⁴ He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

²⁵ But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!

²⁶ And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[k]little dogs.

²⁷ She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (^[l]little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that ^[m]moment.

²⁹ And Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and kept sitting there.

³⁰ And a great multitude came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He cured them,

³¹ So that the crowd was amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^[n]recognized and praised and thanked and glorified the God of Israel.

³² Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way.

³³ And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated and desert place?

³⁴ And Jesus asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They replied, Seven, and a few small fish.

³⁵ And ordering the crowd to recline on the ground,

³⁶ He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they gathered up seven [^[o]large provision] baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

³⁸ Those who ate were 4,000 men, not including the women and the children.

³⁹ Then He dismissed the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan.

16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus, and they asked Him to show them a sign (spectacular miracle) from heaven [attesting His divine authority].

² He replied to them, ^[p]When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,

³ And in the morning, It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a gloomy and threatening look. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴ A wicked and morally unfaithful generation craves a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Then He left them and went away.^(G)

⁵ When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they found that they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶ Jesus said to them, Be careful and on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

⁷ And they reasoned among themselves about it, saying, It is because we did not bring any bread.

⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, asked, Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? O you [men, how little trust you have in Me, how] little faith!

⁹ Do you not yet discern (perceive and understand)? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many [^[q]small hand] baskets you gathered?

¹⁰ Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many [^[r]large provision] baskets you took up?

¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But beware of the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹² Then they discerned that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³ Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

¹⁴ And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

¹⁵ He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?

¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

¹⁷ Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[s]to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.

¹⁸ And I tell you, you are ^[t]Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a ^[u]huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the ^[v]infernal region) shall ^[w]not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth ^[x]must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth ^[y]must be what is already loosed in heaven.^(H)

²⁰ Then He sternly and strictly charged and warned the disciples to tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

²¹ From that time forth Jesus began [clearly] to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised ^[z]from death.

²² Then Peter took Him aside ^[aa]to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and ^[ab]charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You!

²³ But Jesus turned ^[ac]away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are ^[ad]minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [^[ae]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

²⁵ For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed ^[af]life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] ^[ag]life [in the kingdom of God]?

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory (majesty, splendor) of His Father with His angels, and then He will render account and reward every man in accordance with what he has done.

²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in (into) His kingdom.