Mark 8:1–26

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand People

8Not long afterwards another large crowd came together. When the people had nothing left to eat, Jesus called the disciples to him and said, ²“I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home without feeding them, they will faint as they go, because some of them have come a long way.”

⁴His disciples asked him, “Where in this desert can anyone find enough food to feed all these people?”

⁵“How much bread have you got?” Jesus asked.

“Seven loaves,” they answered.

⁶He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd; and the disciples did so. ⁷They also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for these and told the disciples to distribute them too. ^8–9Everybody ate and had enough—there were about 4,000 people. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over. Jesus sent the people away ¹⁰and at once got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees Ask for a Miracle

^11*Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to argue with him. They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. ^12*But Jesus gave a deep groan and said, “Why do the people of this day ask for a miracle? No, I tell you! No such proof will be given to these people!”

¹³He left them, got back into the boat, and started across to the other side of the lake.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to bring enough bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ^15*“Take care,” Jesus warned them, “and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶They started discussing among themselves: “He says this because we haven’t any bread.”

¹⁷Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, “Why are you discussing about not having any bread? Don’t you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull? ^18*You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear? Don’t you remember ¹⁹when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand people? How many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”

“Twelve,” they answered.

²⁰“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand people,” asked Jesus, “how many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”

“Seven,” they answered.

²¹“And you still don’t understand?” he asked them.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. ²³Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, “Can you see anything?”

²⁴The man looked up and said, “Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking about.”

²⁵Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus then sent him home with the order, “Don’t go back into the village.”