Passage: Matthew 14, 15, 16 (RSV)


Matthew 14


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 powers are at work in him."
3For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Hero'di-as, his brother Philip's wife;
4because John said 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 Hero'di-as 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 lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
14As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
16Jesus 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 blessed, and broke and gave the loaves 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.
22Then 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 many furlongs distant 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, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
27But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
28And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me 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 caught him, saying to him, "O man 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 round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick,
36and besought him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.

Matthew 15


1Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
2"Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat."
3He answered them, "And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4For God commanded, `Honor your father and your mother,' and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.'
5But you say, `If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.'
6So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God.
7You 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 precepts of men.'"
10And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand:
11not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."
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 which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.
14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, 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 so passes on?
18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man.
19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
20These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."
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 cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed 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 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 fair 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.
29And Jesus went on from there and passed along 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 maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,
31so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, 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 bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?"
34And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
35And commanding 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 sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Mag'adan.

Matthew 16


1And the Pharisees and Sad'ducees 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.
4An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall 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, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees."
7And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "We brought no bread."
8But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?
9Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?
10Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?
11How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees."
12Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
14And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, 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-Jona! 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 powers of death 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 and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, 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 on the side of God, but of men."
24Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man 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, and 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 life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
27For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.
28Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."



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