³⁰ And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^(A)have mercy on us, ^(B)Son of David!” ³¹ But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^(C)Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³³ They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

¹⁰ He sent word 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 [a]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[b]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Men Fed

^13 (A)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[c]people heard about this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He came ^[d]ashore, He ^(B)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(C)healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have nothing here except ^(D)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ And ordering the crowds to ^[e]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He ^(E)blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full ^(F)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (G)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(H)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already ^[f]a long distance from the land, ^[g]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[h](I)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(J)the ^[i]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

^35 (A)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(B)prayed there for a time. ³⁶ Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ^[a]preach there; for this is why I came.” ^39 (C)And He went into their synagogues ^[b]preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[a](A)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵ But Jesus, ^[b]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(B)He healed them all,