³² And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.^(A)

² “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.^{(A) 3} If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” ⁵ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”^{(B) 6} Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. ⁷ They had also a few small fish, and after blessing them he ordered that these, too, should be distributed.^{(C) 8} They ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹ Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.^(A)

³⁶ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.^(A)

⁵ When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”^{(A) 6} He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they^[a] sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.^{(B) 12} When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

⁹ He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him,

Feeding the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.^{(A) 15} When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”^{(B) 18} And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(C) 20} And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Feeding the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return the apostles told Jesus^[a] all they had done. Then, taking them along, he slipped quietly into a city called Bethsaida.^{(A) 11} When the crowds found out about it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be cured.

¹² The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside to lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.” ¹³ But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”^{(B) 14} For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did so and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.^{(C) 17} And all ate and were filled, and what was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.