⁴² Multiplication of Loaves. A man came from Baal-shalishah, and he brought the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread from the firstfruits along with some heads of grain. He said, “Give it to the people so that they might eat.” ⁴³ His servant said, “What? Should I place this before one hundred men?” But he said again, “Give it to the people to eat, for thus says the Lord: They will eat, and there will be some left over.”

⁴⁴ He set it before them, and they ate, and there was some left over, just as the Lord had predicted.

³² And so they went off by themselves in a boat to a deserted place. ³³ Now many people saw them departing and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴ As Jesus went ashore and beheld the vast crowd, he had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

³⁵ Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Men.^[a] When it began to be late in the day, his disciples came up to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it is getting very late. ³⁶ Send the people away now so that they can go to the farms and villages in the area and buy something for themselves to eat.” ³⁷ He replied, “Give them something to eat yourselves.” They said to him, “Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii^[b] on bread for them to eat?” ³⁸ He asked, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out, they reported: “Five loaves, and two fish.”

³⁹ Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down on the green grass in groups. ⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to distribute among the people. He also divided the two fish among them. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ Then they gathered up the fragments of the bread and fish—twelve full baskets.^{[c] 44} Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.