Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
Recalling the Death of John the Baptist
14 At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus. 2 He said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has risen from the dead! That is why these powers are working in him.” 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 John had been telling him, “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 him as a prophet. 6 But when it was Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced among them. This pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
9 Although this saddened the king, because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that it be done. 10 He sent the order and had John beheaded in prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came, took the body, and buried it. Then they went and reported this to Jesus.
Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand
13 When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.
14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away, so that they can 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 told him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 “Bring them here to me,” he replied. 19 Then he instructed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. After looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. 20 They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve basketfuls of what was left over from the broken pieces. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not even counting women and children.
Jesus Walks on Water
22 Immediately Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By then the boat was quite a distance from shore, being pounded by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 In the fourth watch of the night,[a] Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus said, “Come!”
Peter stepped down from the boat, walked on the water, and went toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. As he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”
34 When they had crossed over, they came to the shore at Gennesaret. 35 When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding region. They brought to him all who were sick 36 and begged that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. All who touched it were completely cured.
Commandments and Traditions
15 Then the Pharisees and experts in the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[b] and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother should be put to death.’[c] 5 But you say that if someone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might have received from me has been dedicated as a gift to God,’[d] 6 that man does not need to honor his father or his mother.[e] And so you set aside the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
9 They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they are doctrines.”[f]
10 Then he summoned the crowd and said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into the mouth does not make a person unclean, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”
13 He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind.[g] And if the blind are guiding the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter replied and said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? 17 Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated into the latrine? 18 But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. That is what defiles a person. 19 To be sure, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!”
23 But he did not answer her a word.
His disciples came and pleaded, “Send her away, because she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 But she came and knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet their little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.
29 Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. He went up onto the mountain and sat there. 30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand
32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me already three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they might faint on the way.”
33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get so many loaves in the wilderness to satisfy such a large crowd?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven basketfuls of the broken pieces that were left over. 38 Those who ate numbered four thousand men, without counting the women and children. 39 After Jesus sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.