¹At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard of Jesus's fame, ²and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, which is why there are powers at work in him.” ³For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, ⁴because John had kept on saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her”, ⁵and although he wished to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. ⁶Then when Herod's birthday was celebrated, Herodias's daughter danced in their presence and pleased Herod, ⁷with the result that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. ⁸But she, being so induced by her mother, said, “Give me here the head of John the Baptist on a dish.” ⁹At this the king was grieved, but on account of his oaths and those reclining with him, he ordered it to be given, ¹⁰and he sent an executioner and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹So his head was brought on a dish, and it was given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹²Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and they came and reported it to Jesus. ¹³But when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place privately. Then when the crowds heard about it, they followed him on foot from the cities, ¹⁴and when Jesus went out, he saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them and cured their infirm. ¹⁵When it was evening, his disciples came to him and said, “The place is desolate, and the hour has already passed. Dismiss the crowds, so that they can go back to their villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them food to eat.” ¹⁷Then they said to him, “We haven't got anything here except five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸But he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Then he commanded the crowds to recline on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fish, and he looked up to heaven and offered a blessing, and he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, while the disciples gave it to the crowds. ²⁰And they all ate and were filled, and they gathered up the excess pieces – twelve basketsful. ²¹Now those who ate were about five thousand men, excluding women and children. ²²Then straightaway Jesus made his disciples go on board the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³Then when he had dismissed the crowds, he went up a mountain privately to pray. It was evening, and he was there alone. ²⁴But the boat was already in the middle of the sea, being buffeted by waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵Now then, at the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea, ²⁶and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were disturbed, saying, “It is a ghost”, and they shouted for fear. ²⁷But Jesus immediately spoke to them and said, “Be of good courage – it is me – do not be afraid.” ²⁸Then Peter replied to him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.” ²⁹And he said, “Come.” So Peter went down from the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and as he was beginning to sink, he called out and said, “Lord, save me.” ³¹Then Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and held on to him, and he said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²Then when they had gone on board the boat, the wind abated, ³³and those in the boat came and worshipped him and said, “Truly, you are the son of God.” ³⁴Then when they had crossed over, they came to the district of Gennesaret, ³⁵and when the men of that place recognized him, they sent word out to the whole of that region, and they brought all those who were unwell to him, ³⁶and they pleaded with him that they might only touch the hem of his coat. And any who touched it recovered.