Matthew 14:1-14

New American Standard Bible 1995

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 Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[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 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 ^[e]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 ^[f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

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