Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 (A)At that [a]time (B)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, “(C)This is John the Baptist; [b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For when (D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him (E)in prison because of (F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had been saying to him, “(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding [c]John as (H)a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of (I)Herodias danced [d]before them and pleased (J)Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Now having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of [e]his dinner guests. 10 And 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 his disciples came and took away the body and buried [f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
13 (K)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when He went [g]ashore, He (L)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and (M)healed their sick.
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already [h]late; so send the crowds away, that they may 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 But they *said to Him, “We have here only (N)five loaves and two fish.” 18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 And ordering the crowds to [i]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He (O)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. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full (P)baskets. 21 And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Sea
22 (Q)Immediately He [j]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 And after He had sent the crowds away, (R)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 many [k]stadia away from the land, [l]being battered by the waves; for the wind was [m](S)against them. 25 And in (T)the [n]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 Now when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is (U)a ghost!” And they cried out [o]in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “(V)Take courage, [p]it is I; (W)do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “(X)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly (Y)God’s Son!”
34 (Z)And when they had crossed over, they came to land at (AA)Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place [q]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they were pleading with Him that they might just touch (AB)the fringe of His garment; and as many as (AC)touched it were cured.
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
15 (AD)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus (AE)from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (AF)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘(AG)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘(AH)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to [r]be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me [s]is given to God,” 6 he need not [t]honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8 ‘(AI)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as (AJ)doctrines the commands of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 (AK)It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [u]offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “(AL)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; (AM)they are blind guides [v]of the blind. And (AN)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Now Peter answered and said to Him, “(AO)Explain the parable to us.” 16 And [w]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? 18 But (AP)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 (AQ)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
The Canaanite Woman
21 (AR)And going away from there, Jesus withdrew into the district of (AS)Tyre and (AT)Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, (AU)Son of David; my daughter is cruelly (AV)demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and were pleading with Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting [x]at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to (AW)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and [y](AX)was bowing down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not [z]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; [aa]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, (AY)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed [ab]at once.
Jesus Heals the Crowds
29 (AZ)And departing from there, Jesus went along by (BA)the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And [ac]large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and (BB)He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled [ad]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they (BC)glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
32 (BD)And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “(BE)I feel compassion for the crowd, because they [ae]have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the crowd to [af]sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and (BF)giving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large (BG)baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into (BH)the boat and came to the region of (BI)Magadan.
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