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¹At that time Herod [Antipas], the tetrarch [who governed a portion of Palestine including Galilee and Perea], heard the reports about Jesus,

²and said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and that is why the miraculous powers are at work in him."

³For Herod had John arrested and bound him and put him in prison [at the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Jordan, to keep him away] because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,

⁴for John had said to him, "It is not lawful (morally right) for you to have her [living with you as your wife]."

⁵Although Herod wished to have him put to death, he feared the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.

⁶But when Herod's birthday came, [his niece Salome], the daughter of Herodias danced [immodestly] before them and pleased and fascinated Herod,

⁷so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

⁸She, being coached by her mother [Herodias], said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

⁹The king was distressed, but because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests, he ordered it to be given her.

¹⁰He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

¹¹His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother [Herodias].

¹²And John's disciples came and took away the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

¹³When Jesus heard about John, He left there privately in a boat and went to a secluded place. But when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

¹⁴When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt [profound] compassion for them and healed their sick.

¹⁵When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is an isolated place and the hour is already late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

¹⁶But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!"

¹⁷They replied, "We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish."

¹⁸He said, "Bring them here to Me."

¹⁹Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and He took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up toward heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people,

²⁰and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up twelve full baskets of the leftover broken pieces.

²¹There were about 5,000 men who ate, besides women and children.

²²Immediately He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], while He sent the crowds away.

²³After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was there alone.

²⁴But the boat [by this time] was already a long distance from land, tossed and battered by the waves; for the wind was against them.

²⁵And in the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.

²⁷But immediately He spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I! Do not be afraid!"

²⁸Peter replied to Him, "Lord, if it is [really] You, command me to come to You on the water."

²⁹He said, "Come!" So Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

³⁰But when he saw [the effects of] the wind, he was frightened, and he began to sink, and he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

³¹Immediately Jesus extended His hand and caught him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

³²And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³Then those in the boat worshiped Him [with awe-inspired reverence], saying, "Truly You are the Son of God!"

³⁴When they had crossed over [the sea], they went ashore at Gennesaret.

³⁵And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word throughout all the surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;

³⁶and they begged Him to let them merely touch the fringe of His robe; and all who touched it were perfectly restored.

¹Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said,

²"Why do Your disciples violate the tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat."

³He replied to them, "Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?

⁴For God said [through Moses], 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.'

⁵But you say, 'If anyone says to his father or mother, "Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,"

⁶he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].' So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].

⁷You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,

⁸'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.

⁹'But in vain do they worship Me, For they teach as doctrines the precepts of men.'"

¹⁰After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said, "Listen and understand this:

¹¹It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him."

¹²Then the disciples came and said to Jesus, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you say this?"

¹³He answered, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be torn up by the roots.

¹⁴Leave them alone; they are blind guides[leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

¹⁵Peter asked Him, "Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us."

¹⁶And He said, "Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?

¹⁷Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

¹⁸But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man.

¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).

²⁰These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man."

²¹After leaving there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

²²And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon."

²³But He did not say a word in answer to her. And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], "Send her away, because she keeps shouting out after us."

²⁴He answered, "I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

²⁵But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

²⁶And He replied, "It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children's bread and throw it to the pet dogs."

²⁷She said, "Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters' table."

²⁸Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in My power] is great; it will be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that moment.

²⁹Jesus went on from there and passed along by [the eastern shore of] the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on the hillside and was sitting there.

³⁰And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.

³¹So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home]."

³³The disciples said to Him, "Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?"

³⁴And Jesus asked them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have?" They replied, "Seven, and a few small fish."

³⁵He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground,

³⁶and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and when He had given thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the people.

³⁷And they all ate and were satisfied, and they gathered up seven full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.

³⁸[Among] those who ate were 4,000 men, not counting women and children.

³⁹Then Jesus sent the crowds away, got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.

¹Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus [to get something to use against Him], they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven [which would support His divine authority].

²But He replied to them, " When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'

³And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times?

⁴An evil and [morally] unfaithful generation craves a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of [the prophet] Jonah." Then He left them and went away.

⁵When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they realized that they had forgotten to bring bread.

⁶Jesus said to them, "Watch out and be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

⁷They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring bread."

⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread?

⁹Do you still not understand or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?

¹¹How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

¹²Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the [false] teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

¹⁴And they answered, "Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets."

¹⁵He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

¹⁶Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God."

¹⁷Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

¹⁸And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ].

¹⁹I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven."

²⁰Then He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

²¹From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples [clearly] that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.

²²Peter took Him aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, "May God forbid it! This will never happen to You."

²³But Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man."

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].

²⁵For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done.

²⁸"I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

¹Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John the brother of James, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

²And His appearance changed dramatically in their presence; and His face shone [with heavenly glory, clear and bright] like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.

³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

⁴Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good and delightful and auspicious that we are here; if You wish, I will put up three [sacred] tents here—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

⁵While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, " This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased and delighted! Listen to Him!"

⁶When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were terrified.

⁷But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid."

⁸And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

⁹And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

¹⁰The disciples asked Him, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

¹¹He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things;

¹²but I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not recognize him, but did to him as they wished. The Son of Man is also going to suffer at their hands."

¹³Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, kneeling before Him and saying,

¹⁵"Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic (moonstruck) and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

¹⁶And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to heal him."

¹⁷And Jesus answered, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."

¹⁸Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed at once.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, "Why could we not drive it out?"

²⁰He answered, "Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and [if it is God's will] it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

²¹[But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]"

²²When they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies];

²³and they will kill Him, and He will be raised [from death to life] on the third day." And they were deeply grieved and distressed.

²⁴When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel [temple tax] went up to Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the half-shekel?"

²⁵Peter answered, "Yes." And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"

²⁶When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt [from taxation].

²⁷However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take it and give it to them [to pay the temple tax] for you and Me."