³² So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, ³³ but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.^[a]

³⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion^(A) on them, because they were like sheep^(B) without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

³⁵ When it grew late, his disciples^(C) approached him and said, “This place is deserted,^(D) and it is already late. ³⁶ Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ “You give them something to eat,” he responded.

They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii^[b] worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² Everyone ate and was satisfied.^{(E) 43} They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

Feeding of the Five Thousand

¹⁰ When the apostles returned,^(A) they reported to Jesus all that they had done.^(B) He took them along and withdrew privately to a^[a] town called Bethsaida.^{(C) 11} When the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them,^(D) spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

¹² Late in the day,^(E) the Twelve approached and said to him, “Send the crowd away,^(F) so that they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³ “You give them something to eat,” he told them.

“We have no more than five loaves^(G) and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (For about five thousand men were there.)

Then he told his disciples, “Have them sit down^[b] in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did what he said, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,^(H) he blessed and broke them.^(I) He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ Everyone ate and was filled. They picked up twelve baskets of leftover pieces.

The Fourth Sign: Feeding of the Five Thousand

6 After^(A) this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee^(B) (or Tiberias^(C)). ² A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. ³ Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

⁴ Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. ⁵ So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him,^(D) he asked Philip,^(E) “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” ⁶ He asked this to test him,^(F) for he himself knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii^[a](G) worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew,^(H) Simon^(I) Peter’s^(J) brother, said to him, ⁹ “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.^{(K) 11} Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.^(L)

¹² When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”^{(M) 13} So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.