Matthew 14

¹At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report of Jesus,

²And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and because of this the miraculous powers are at work in him.

³For Herod, having seized John, bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,

⁴For John kept saying to him, It is not lawful for you to have her.

⁵And though he wished to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they held him to be a prophet.

⁶But when Herods birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in their midst and pleased Herod,

⁷whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸And she, having been prompted by her mother, says: Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.

⁹And the king was grieved, but because of his oaths and those reclining at table with him, he commanded it to be given.

¹⁰And he sent and beheaded John in the prison.

¹¹And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

¹²And his disciples came and took the corpse and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

¹³Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from there by boat to a desolate place by himself. And when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

¹⁴And going out, Jesus saw a great crowd and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

¹⁵Now when evening came, his disciples came to him, saying, The place is desolate, and the hour has already passed; dismiss the crowds, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

¹⁶But Jesus said to them: They have no need to go away; you yourselves give them something to eat.

¹⁷And they say to him: We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.

¹⁸And he said, 'Bring them here to me.'

¹⁹And having commanded the crowds to recline on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed them, and breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.

²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up what was left over of the fragments, twelve baskets full.

²¹And those who were eating were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

²²And immediately Jesus compelled his disciples to embark into the boat and to go before him to the other side, until he should dismiss the crowds.

²³And having dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was there alone.

²⁴But the boat was now many stadia distant from the land, being battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

²⁵And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶But the disciples, seeing him walking on the sea, were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And from fear they cried out.

²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Take courage! It is I; do not be afraid.

²⁸And Peter, answering him, said, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you upon the waters.'

²⁹And he said: Come. And Peter, having gone down from the boat, walked on the water and came to Jesus.

³⁰But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!'

³¹And immediately Jesus, stretching out his hand, took hold of him and says to him: You of little faith, why did you doubt?

³²And when they had gone up into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying: Truly you are the Son of God.

³⁴And having crossed over, they came to the land, to Gennesaret.

³⁵And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region and brought to him all who were sick,

³⁶And they begged him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were healed.