Matthew 14:1-25

The Death of John the Baptist

1 ¹At that time ²Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus,

2 and he said to his servants, ³"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 ⁴Herod had seized John and bound him and ⁵put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,^[a]

4 because John had been saying to him, ⁶"It is not lawful for you to have her."

5 And though he wanted to put him to death, ⁷he feared the people, because they held him to be ⁸a prophet.

6 But when Herod's ⁹birthday 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 ¹⁰his 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, ¹¹he 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 ¹²saw a great crowd, and ¹³he 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; ¹⁴send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

16 But Jesus said, "They need not go away; ¹⁵you 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, ¹⁶he looked up to heaven and ¹⁷said 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 ¹⁸Immediately he ¹⁹made 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, ²⁰he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When ²¹evening 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 ²²in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

Cross References

• 1. For ver. 1-12, see Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9
• 2. Luke 3:1; Acts 13:1
• 3. Matthew 16:14
• 4. Luke 3:19, 20
• 5. Matthew 11:2; John 3:24
• 6. Leviticus 18:16; Leviticus 20:21
• 7. Matthew 21:26; [Matthew 21:46]
• 8. See Matthew 11:9
• 9. Genesis 40:20
• 10. See Matthew 9:14
• 11. For ver. 13-21, see Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13; [Matthew 15:32-38; Matthew 16:9; Mark 8:2-9]
• 12. [Matthew 9:36]
• 13. [Matthew 9:36]
• 14. ver. 22; [Matthew 15:23]
• 15. [2 Kings 4:42-44]
• 16. Mark 7:34; John 11:41; John 17:1
• 17. Matthew 26:26; 1 Samuel 9:13; Mark 8:7; Mark 14:22; Luke 24:30; [1 Corinthians 14:16]
• 18. For ver. 22-33, see Mark 6:45-51; John 6:15-21
• 19. [Matthew 8:18]
• 20. Luke 6:12; Luke 9:28; [Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16]
• 21. [Mark 13:35]
• 22. [See ver. 22 above]

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts his brother's wife
• [b]. Greek many stadia, a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters
• [c]. Some manuscripts was out on the sea