Matthew 13:53-17:27

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (A)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ^54 (B)He came to ^[a]His hometown and ^(C)began teaching them in their synagogue, so that ^(D)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these ^[b]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not ^(E)His mother called Mary, and His ^(F)brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(G)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(H)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(I)A prophet is not without honor except in his ^[c]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[d]miracles there because of their unbelief.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^(J)At that ^[e]time ^(K)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(L)This is John the Baptist; ^[f]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(M)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(N)in prison because of ^(O)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(P)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 ^[g]John as ^(Q)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(R)Herodias danced ^[h]before them and pleased ^(S)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[i]his dinner guests. 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 His disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[j]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

^13 (T)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[k]people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ^[l]ashore, He ^(U)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(V)healed their sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ^[m]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 They *said to Him, “We have here only ^(W)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the ^[n]people to ^[o]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(X)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 ^(Y)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (Z)Immediately He ^[p]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(AA)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 ^[q]a long distance from the land, ^[r]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[s](AB)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(AC)the ^[t]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^(AD)a ghost!” And they cried out ^[u]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(AE)Take courage, it is I; ^(AF)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^(AG)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly ^(AH)God’s Son!”

^34 (AI)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(AJ)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place ^[v]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch ^(AK)the fringe of His cloak; and as many as ^(AL)touched it were cured.

Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(AM)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(AN)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(AO)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, ‘^(AP)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(AQ)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[w]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[x]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother^[y].’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ^11 (AT)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 ^[z]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(AU)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; ^(AV)they are blind guides ^[aa]of the blind. And ^(AW)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[ab]said to Him, “^(AX)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [ac]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 is ^[ad]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(AY)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ^19 (AZ)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ^[ae]fornications, 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 Syrophoenician Woman

^21 (BA)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ^(BB)Tyre and ^(BC)Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(BD)Son of David; my daughter is cruelly ^(BE)demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^[af]at us.” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^(BF)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and ^(BG)began ^[ag]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ And He answered and said, “It is not ^[ah]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Lord; ^[ai]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^(BH)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed ^[aj]at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (BI)Departing from there, Jesus went along by ^(BJ)the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[ak]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 ^(BK)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled ^[al]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^(BL)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

^32 (BM)And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “^(BN)I feel compassion for the ^[am]people, because they ^[an]have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ 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 ^[ao]people to ^[ap]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and ^(BO)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(BP)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(BQ)the boat and came to the region of ^(BR)Magadan.

Pharisees Test Jesus

16 ^(BS)The ^(BT)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they ^(BU)asked Him to show them a ^[aq]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[ar](BV)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(BW)Do you know how to discern the ^[as]appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? ^4 (BX)An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a ^[at]sign; and a ^[au]sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(BY)beware of the ^[av]leaven of the ^(BZ)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(CA)You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand or remember ^(CB)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? ¹⁰ Or ^(CC)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But ^(CD)beware of the ^[aw]leaven of the ^(CE)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(CF)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (CG)Now when Jesus came into the district of ^(CH)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(CI)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(CJ)John the Baptist; and others, ^[ax](CK)Elijah; but still others, ^[ay]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^[az](CL)the Christ, ^(CM)the Son of ^(CN)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(CO)Simon ^[ba]Barjona, because ^(CP)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are ^[bb](CQ)Peter, and upon this ^[bc]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(CR)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(CS)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(CT)whatever you bind on earth ^[bd]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth ^[be]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (CU)Then He ^[bf]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was ^[bg](CV)the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (CW)From that time ^[bh]Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and ^(CX)suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. ²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[bi]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[bj]happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(CY)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[bk]God’s interests, but man’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and ^(CZ)take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(DA)whoever wishes to save his ^[bl]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[bm]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(DB)Son of Man ^(DC)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(DD)will then ^[bn]repay every man according to his ^[bo]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(DE)Son of Man ^(DF)coming in His kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 ^(DG)Six days later Jesus *took with Him ^(DH)Peter and ^[bp]James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ^(DI)I will make three ^[bq]tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^(DJ)a voice out of the cloud said, “^(DK)This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[br]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^(DL)do not be afraid.” ⁸ And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9 (DM)As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^(DN)Tell the vision to no one until ^(DO)the Son of Man has ^(DP)risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^(DQ)Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[bs]to him whatever they wished. So also ^(DR)the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[bt]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demoniac

^14 (DS)When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵ “^[bu]Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a ^[bv](DT)lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured ^[bw]at once.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, ^(DU)if you have faith ^[bx]the size of ^(DV)a mustard seed, you will say to ^(DW)this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^(DX)nothing will be impossible to you. ²¹ [^[by](DY)But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

^22 (DZ)And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ^[bz]delivered into the hands of men; ²³ and ^(EA)they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Tribute Money

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^(EB)the ^[ca]two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^(EC)the ^[cb]two-drachma tax?” ²⁵ He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^(ED)customs or ^(EE)poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶ When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ^[cc]exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we do not ^[cd](EF)offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find ^[ce]a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”