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John the Baptist Beheaded

^1 (F1)(C1)At that time ^(F2)(C2)Herod ^(F3)the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus,² and said to his servants, "^(C1)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."

³ For when ^(C1)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(C2)in prison because of ^(C3)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.⁴ For John had been saying to him, "^(C1)It is not lawful for you to have her."⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^(F1)John as ^(C1)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of ^(C1)Herodias danced ^(F1)before them and pleased ^(C2)Herod,⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she ^(*)said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter."⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^(F1)his dinner guests.¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison.¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.^12 (F1)John's disciples came and took away the body and buried ^(F2)it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Men Fed

^13 (C1)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^(F1)people heard about this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.¹⁴ When He came ^(F1)ashore, He ^(C1)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(C2)healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!"¹⁷ They ^(*)said to Him, "We have nothing here except ^(C1)five loaves and two fish."¹⁸ And He said, "Bring them here to Me."¹⁹ And ordering the crowds to ^(F1)sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He ^(C1)blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full ^(C1)baskets.²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (C1)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(C1)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.²⁴ But the boat was already ^(F1)a long distance from the land, ^(F2)battered by the waves; for the wind was ^(F3)(C1)contrary.²⁵ And in ^(C1)the ^(F1)fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is ^(C1)a ghost!" And they cried out ^(F1)in fear.²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "^(C1)Take courage, ^(F1)it is I; ^(C2)do not be afraid."

²⁸ Peter responded and said to Him, "Lord, if ^(F1)it is You, command me to come to You on the water."²⁹ And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and ^(*)said to him, "^(C1)You of little faith, why did you doubt?"³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are truly ^(C1)God's Son!"

^34 (C1)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(C2)Gennesaret.³⁵ And when the men of that place ^(F1)recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick;³⁶ and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch ^(C1)the ^(F1)border of His cloak; and all who ^(C2)touched it were cured.