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

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

³For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,

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

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

⁶But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod,

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

⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”

⁹And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.

¹⁰He sent and had John beheaded 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 body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he 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.

¹⁴When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

¹⁷They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”

¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

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

²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

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

²⁴but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

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

²⁶But when 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 Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

²⁸And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is 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 to Jesus.

³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

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

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

³⁴And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

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

³⁶and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

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

²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

³He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁴For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

⁵But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”

⁶he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.

⁷ You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

⁸ “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

⁹in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

¹⁰And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:

¹¹ it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

¹²Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

¹³He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶And he said, “Are you also still without understanding?

¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?

¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

²⁰ These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

²¹And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

²²And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”

²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

²⁶And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”

²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

²⁹Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there.

³⁰And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,

³¹so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

³³And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground,

³⁶he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

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

³⁸Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

¹And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

²He answered 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 threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

⁵When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”

⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

⁹ Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹¹How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? 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 teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

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

¹⁶Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

²¹From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

²³But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

²⁵For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

²⁸Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

¹And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

²And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

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

⁴And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

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

⁷But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”

⁸And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

¹⁰And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”

¹¹He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.

¹²But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

¹⁴And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,

¹⁵said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.

¹⁶And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”

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

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

²⁰He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

²¹

²²As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,

²³and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”

²⁵He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?”

²⁶And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

²⁷However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”