Matthew 14

₁King Herod ruled in the province of Galilee at that time. He heard what the people said about Jesus. ₂He said to his officials: ‘Jesus is John the Baptist. John has died, but he lives again. That is why he can do these miracles.’

_3-4Long before this, King Herod had married the wife of his brother, Philip. Her name was Herodias. John then said to King Herod: ‘It is wrong for you to take your brother's wife.’ ₅King Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they said John was a prophet. ₆On King Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for all the guests. King Herod loved it a lot ₇and the king said to the girl: ‘You may ask me for anything that you want and I will give it to you.’ ₈The daughter asked her mother: ‘What do you think I must ask the king to give me?’ Herodias answered her and said: ‘Tell him you want the head of John the Baptist on a plate.’

₉The king was very sad, but all the people who were there had heard what he had promised. So he told his soldiers to do what she had asked. ₁₀The king sent his soldiers and told them to cut off John's head. ₁₁They put John the Baptist's head on a plate and they gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother. ₁₂John's disciples came and they took his body and they buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.

₁₃They told Jesus what had happened to John. He got into a boat and He went to a quiet place to be alone. Many people found out where Jesus was and they went to Him from all the towns. ₁₄When Jesus got out of the boat, He saw the big crowd of people. Jesus felt sorry for them and He healed everyone who was sick. ₁₅When evening came, the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him: ‘This place is far from a town and it is late. Send the people away so that they can go to the towns where they can buy food to eat.’ ₁₆But Jesus said: ‘No. You must give them food to eat.’ ₁₇The disciples said to Jesus: ‘We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.’

₁₈Jesus said to them: ‘Bring them to Me.’ ₁₉Jesus told all the people to sit down on the grass. Then He took the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fish and He looked up to heaven. He praised God and thanked Him for the food. Then He broke the bread into pieces and He gave it to his disciples and the disciples gave it to the people. ₂₀Everyone had enough to eat. When all the people had finished eating, the disciples picked up 12 big baskets of bread and fish that the people had not eaten. ₂₁There were a lot of people who had eaten. The men were about 5 000 and there were also women and children.

₂₂Then Jesus told his disciples that they must immediately get into the boat. He said they must go to the other side of the lake. Jesus stayed there to tell all the people to go home. ₂₃After Jesus had sent the people home, He went up the mountain to be alone and to pray. Later that evening Jesus was alone. ₂₄The boat with his disciples was far from the land. The waves became big because the wind was blowing very strongly. ₂₅Early the next morning before the sun came up, Jesus went to the disciples. He walked on the water. ₂₆When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they said it was a ghost and they started to shout because they were afraid.

₂₇Immediately Jesus talked to them and He said to them: ‘Don't worry, it is I, Jesus. Do not be afraid.’

₂₈Peter said to Jesus: ‘Lord, if it is really You, tell me to come to You and to walk on the water.’ ₂₉Jesus said to him: ‘Come.’ Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water to Jesus. ₃₀But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he became afraid and he started to go down into the water. He shouted: ‘Lord, save me.’ ₃₁Immediately Jesus put out his hand and He grabbed Peter and asked him: ‘Why do you have so little faith? Why did you doubt?’

₃₂They got into the boat and then the wind stopped. ₃₃The disciples in the boat knelt before Jesus and said to Him: ‘You really are the Son of God.’

₃₄Jesus and his disciples went to the other side of Lake Galilee to the town of Gennesaret. ₃₅When the people saw that it was Jesus, they started to run to the towns to tell everyone that Jesus was there and to bring sick people to Him. ₃₆They asked Jesus if the sick people might touch the hem of his clothes. Everyone who touched Him was healed.