The Compassion of the Lord

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, ^(A)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. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he ^(B)saw a great crowd, and ^(C)he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; ^(D)send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; ^(E)you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(F)he looked up to heaven and ^(G)said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

^24 (A)So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and ^(B)went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ^(C)“Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(D)you are seeking me, not because you saw ^(E)signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ^27 (F)Do not work for the food that perishes, but for ^(G)the food that endures to eternal life, which ^(H)the Son of Man will give to you. For on ^(I)him God the Father has ^(J)set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing ^(K)the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, ^(L)that you believe in him whom ^(M)he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, ^(N)“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ^31 (O)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^(P)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is ^(Q)he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, ^(R)“Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, ^(S)“I am the bread of life; ^(T)whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ^37 (U)All that ^(V)the Father gives me will come to me, and ^(W)whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For ^(X)I have come down from heaven, not to do ^(Y)my own will but ^(Z)the will of him ^(AA)who sent me. ³⁹ And ^(AB)this is the will of him who sent me, ^(AC)that I should lose nothing of ^(AD)all that he has given me, but ^(AE)raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who ^(AF)looks on the Son and ^(AG)believes in him ^(AH)should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(AI)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, ^(AJ)“Is not this Jesus, ^(AK)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(AL)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(AM)draws him. And ^(AN)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ^(AO)‘And they will all be ^(AP)taught by God.’ ^(AQ)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ^46 (AR)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(AS)he who is from God; he ^(AT)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AU)whoever believes has eternal life. ^48 (AV)I am the bread of life. ^49 (AW)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(AX)they died. ^50 (AY)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(AZ)and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread ^(BA)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(BB)for the life of the world is ^(BC)my flesh.”