Five Thousand Fed

³⁰ The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught. ³¹ He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat. ³² And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.^{(A) 33} Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late; ³⁶ send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 ^[a]denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”^{(B) 38} He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.” ³⁹ Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots]. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.^{(C) 46} And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And [acted as if] He intended to pass by them.^{(D) 49} But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror]; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”^{(E) 51} Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased [as if exhausted by its own activity]; and they were completely overwhelmed, ⁵² because they had not understood [the miracle of] the loaves [how it revealed the power and deity of Jesus]; but [in fact] their heart was hardened [being oblivious and indifferent to His amazing works].

Healing at Gennesaret

⁵³ When they had crossed over [the sea], they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore. ⁵⁴ They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran throughout that surrounding countryside and began to carry around on their mats those who were sick, to any place where they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He came into villages, or cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places and pleading with Him [to allow them] just to touch the fringe (tassel with a blue cord) of His robe; and all who touched it were healed.