Matthew 14

14 ¹At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus. ²He told his attendants, "This is John the Baptist, raised from the dead—that's why these powers are at work in him." ³For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and locked him in prison over Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, ⁴because John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." ⁵Herod wanted to kill him but feared the crowd, since they held John as a prophet. ⁶But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, ⁷so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here, on a platter."

⁹The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he gave the order, ¹⁰and he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought on a platter, given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. ¹²Then John's disciples came, took the body, and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

¹³Hearing this, Jesus withdrew by boat to a remote place alone. But the crowds heard and followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a big crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick. ¹⁵When evening came, the disciples said to him, "This is an isolated place, and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy themselves food."

¹⁶But Jesus told them, "They don't need to leave. You feed them."

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

¹⁸He said, "Bring them here to me."

¹⁹He told the crowds to sit on the grass. Taking the five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve baskets full of the leftover pieces. ²¹Those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²²Immediately he made the disciples board the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowds away. ²³After sending the crowds away, he went up the mountain privately to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴The boat was already far from land, battered by waves, the wind against them. ²⁵About three o'clock in the morning he came to them, walking on the sea. ^a a v25 The fourth watch of the night was roughly 3:00 to 6:00 a.m. — the darkest, coldest stretch before dawn. ²⁶Seeing him walking on the sea, the disciples were terrified, saying, "A ghost!" and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus spoke to them at once: "Take courage! It is I; do not be afraid."

²⁸Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

²⁹He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat, walked on water, and went toward Jesus.

³⁰But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand, caught him, and said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

³²And when they got into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of our Father."

³⁴When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word through that whole region and brought him all who were sick. ³⁶They begged him to let them just touch the fringe of his robe, and all who touched it were healed.