Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People^(A)

¹³ When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went^[a] by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring^[b] towns. ¹⁴ When he got out of the boat,^[c] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening had come, the disciples went to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶ But Jesus told them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ They told him, “We don’t have anything here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”

¹⁸ He said, “Bring them 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 them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them^[d] to the crowds. ²⁰ All of them ate and were filled. Then the disciples^[e] picked up what was left of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(B)

²² Jesus^[f] immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away. ²³ After dismissing the crowds, he went up on a hillside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴ By this time the boat was in the middle of the sea^[g] and was being battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. ²⁵ Shortly before dawn,^[h] Jesus^[i] came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, “It’s a ghost!” And they screamed in terror.

²⁷ “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”

²⁸ Peter answered him, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ Jesus^[j] said, “Come on!” So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came^[k] to Jesus.

³⁰ But when he noticed the strong^[l] wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, “You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?”

Jesus Feeds More than Four Thousand People^(A)

³² Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away without food, or they may faint on the road.”

³³ The disciples asked him, “Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”

They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

³⁵ Ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them^[a] to the crowds. ³⁷ All of them ate until they were filled, then the disciples^[b] picked up what was left of the broken pieces—seven baskets full. ³⁸ Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.^[c]