The Death of John the Baptist

14 ^(A)At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, ^(C)“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For ^(D)Herod had seized John and bound him and ^(E)put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,^{[a] 4} because John had been saying to him, ^(F)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, ^(G)he feared the people, because they held him to be ^(H)a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod's ^(I)birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ 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 ^(J)his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, ^(K)he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he ^(L)saw a great crowd, and ^(M)he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; ^(N)send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; ^(O)you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(P)he looked up to heaven and ^(Q)said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (R)Immediately he ^(S)made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, ^(T)he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When ^(U)evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat by this time was a long way^[b] from the land,^[c] beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And ^(V)in the fourth watch of the night^[d] he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, ^(W)they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(X)“Take heart; it is I. ^(Y)Do not be afraid.”

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 ^(Z)walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind,^[e] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ^(AA)“Lord, save me.” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ^(AB)“O you of little faith, why did you ^(AC)doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, ^(AD)the wind ceased. ³³ And ^(AE)those in the boat ^(AF)worshiped him, saying, ^(AG)“Truly you are ^(AH)the Son of God.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^34 (AI)And when they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(AJ)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and ^(AK)brought to him all who were sick ³⁶ and implored him that they might only touch ^(AL)the fringe of his garment. And ^(AM)as many as touched it were made well.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

16 ^(A)And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and ^(B)to test him ^(C)they asked him to show them ^(D)a sign from heaven. ² He answered them,^{[a] (E)}“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 threatening.’ ^(F)You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret ^(G)the signs of the times. ^4 (H)An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So ^(I)he left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Watch and ^(J)beware of ^(K)the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” ⁸ But ^(L)Jesus, aware of this, said, ^(M)“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ^9 (N)Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember ^(O)the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰ Or ^(P)the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? ^(Q)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ^12 (R)Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of ^(S)the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^13 (T)Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(U)John the Baptist, others say ^(V)Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, ^(W)“You are ^(X)the Christ, ^(Y)the Son of ^(Z)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, ^(AA)“Blessed are you, ^(AB)Simon Bar-Jonah! For ^(AC)flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, ^(AD)but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, ^(AE)you are Peter, and ^(AF)on this rock^[b] I will build my church, and ^(AG)the gates of ^(AH)hell^[c] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(AI)the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and ^(AJ)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[d] in heaven.” ^20 (AK)Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^21 (AL)From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that ^(AM)he must go to Jerusalem and ^(AN)suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AO)the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!^[e] This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, ^(AP)“Get behind me, Satan! You are ^(AQ)a hindrance^[f] to me. For you ^(AR)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AS)deny himself and ^(AT)take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For ^(AU)whoever would save his life^[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For ^(AV)what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or ^(AW)what shall a man give in return for his soul? ^27 (AX)For the Son of Man is going to come with ^(AY)his angels in the glory of his Father, and ^(AZ)then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not ^(BA)taste death ^(BB)until they see the Son of Man ^(BC)coming in his kingdom.”