Matthew 14-17

Evangelical Heritage Version

Recalling the Death of John the Baptist

14 At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus. ² He said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has risen from the dead! That is why these powers are working in him.” ³ For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. ⁶ But when it was Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced among them. This pleased Herod. ⁷ So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

⁹ Although this saddened the king, because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that it be done. ¹⁰ He sent the order and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came, took the body, and buried it. Then they went and reported this to Jesus.

Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand

¹³ When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.

¹⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ They told him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he replied. ¹⁹ Then he instructed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. After looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve basketfuls of what was left over from the broken pieces. ²¹ Those who ate were about five thousand men, not even counting women and children.

Jesus Walks on Water

²² Immediately Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴ By then the boat was quite a distance from shore, being pounded by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ In the fourth watch of the night,^[a] Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, “It’s a ghost!” ²⁷ But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Come!”

Peter stepped down from the boat, walked on the water, and went toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. As he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ Those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to the shore at Gennesaret. ³⁵ When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding region. They brought to him all who were sick ³⁶ and begged that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. All who touched it were completely cured.

Commandments and Traditions

15 Then the Pharisees and experts in the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³ He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’^[b] and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother should be put to death.’^{[c] 5} But you say that if someone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me has been dedicated as a gift to God,’^{[d] 6} that man does not need to honor his father or his mother.^[e] And so you set aside the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

¹⁰ Then he summoned the crowd and said to them, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into the mouth does not make a person unclean, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”

¹³ He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind.^[g] And if the blind are guiding the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter replied and said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated into the latrine? ¹⁸ But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. That is what defiles a person. ¹⁹ To be sure, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things that defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

²¹ Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!”

²³ But he did not answer her a word.

His disciples came and pleaded, “Send her away, because she keeps 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 knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

²⁶ He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet their little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.

²⁹ Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. He went up onto the mountain and sat there. ³⁰ Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹ As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand

³² Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me already three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they might faint on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to him, “Where can we get so many loaves in the wilderness to satisfy such a large crowd?”

³⁴ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”

They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven basketfuls of the broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ Those who ate numbered four thousand men, without counting the women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

A Sign From Heaven

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and, as a test, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ² But he answered them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red.’ ³ In the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy weather today because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times! ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” He left them and went away.

Watch Out for the Teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When his disciples came to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread along. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ They were discussing this among themselves and said, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”

⁸ Since Jesus knew what they were saying, he said, “You of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you brought no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many basketfuls you picked up? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many basketfuls you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹² Then they understood that he was not warning them about the yeast in bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus Is the Christ

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell^[h] will not overpower it.^{[i] 19} I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be^[j] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.”

²³ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare^[k] to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up the Cross

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵ In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father together with his angels, and then he will repay everyone according to his actions. ²⁸ Amen I tell you: Some who are standing here will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light. ³ Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified. ⁷ Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” ⁸ When they opened their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰ His disciples asked him, “Then why do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Jesus answered them, “Yes, Elijah is coming and will restore all things,^{[l] 12} but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him. Instead they did to him whatever they desired. In the same way the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy With a Demon

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt in front of him. ¹⁵ “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son because he has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to cure him.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it went out of the boy, and he was cured from that hour.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why were we unable to drive it out?”

²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith.^[m] Amen I tell you: If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”^[n]

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Again

²² While they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. ²³ They will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.

A Coin in a Fish’s Mouth

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax^[o] came to Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.”

When he came into the house, Jesus spoke first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect tolls or a tax? From their own sons or from others?”

²⁶ Peter said to him, “From others.”

Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. ²⁷ But, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish that you pull up. When you open its mouth, you will find a silver coin.^[p] Take that coin and give it to them for me and for you.”