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¹When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus,

²he said to his advisers, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead! That is why he can do such miracles.”

³For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip).

⁴John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.”

⁵Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet.

⁶But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him,

⁷so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted.

⁸At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!”

⁹Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.

¹⁰So John was beheaded in the prison,

¹¹and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.

¹²Later, John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.

¹³As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns.

¹⁴Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary — you feed them.”

¹⁷“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

¹⁸“Bring them here,” he said.

¹⁹Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people.

²⁰They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

²¹About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!

²²Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home.

²³After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

²⁴Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.

²⁵About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.

²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”

²⁷But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here! ”

²⁸Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

²⁹“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.

³⁰But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

³¹Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

³²When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.

³³Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

³⁴After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.

³⁵When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed.

³⁶They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

¹Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him,

²“Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

³Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?

⁴For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’

⁵But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’

⁶In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.

⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

⁸‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

⁹Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”

¹⁰Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand.

¹¹It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

¹²Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”

¹³Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted,

¹⁴so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”

¹⁶“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷“Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.

¹⁸But the words you speak come from the heart — that’s what defiles you.

¹⁹For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

²⁰These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

²¹Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

²²A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

²³But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep — the people of Israel.”

²⁵But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

²⁸“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.

²⁹Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down.

³⁰A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.

³¹The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

³³The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

³⁴Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”

³⁵So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.

³⁶Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

³⁷They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.

³⁸There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children.

³⁹Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

¹One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

²He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow;

³red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!

⁴Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ” Then Jesus left them and went away.

⁵Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread.

⁸Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread?

⁹Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up?

¹⁰Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up?

¹¹Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

¹²Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

¹⁸Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

¹⁹And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

²⁰Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

²¹From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

²²But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

²⁵If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

²⁶And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

²⁷For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

²⁸And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

¹Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.

²As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

³Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.

⁴Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

⁶The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.

⁷Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”

⁸And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.

⁹As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰Then his disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? ”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready.

¹²But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”

¹³Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist.

¹⁴At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said,

¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

¹⁶So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

¹⁸Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.

¹⁹Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”

²⁰“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ”

²¹

²²After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.

²³He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

²⁴On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

²⁵“Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? ”

²⁶“They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!

²⁷However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”