John 6:1–15

The Feeding of Five Thousand

6After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee (that is, Tiberias). ²And a large crowd was following him because they were observing the signs that he was doing on those who were sick. ³So Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴(Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.) ⁵Then Jesus, when he looked up^{a *} and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people can eat?” ⁶(Now he said this to test him, because he knew what he was going to do.) ⁷Philip replied to him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, ⁹“Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people recline.” (Now there was a lot of grass in the place.) So the men reclined, approximately five thousand in number. ¹¹Then Jesus took the bread, and after he^* had given thanks, he distributed it^* to those who were reclining—likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²And when they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, “Gather the remaining fragments so that nothing is lost.” ¹³So they gathered them,^* and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴Now when^* the people saw the sign that he performed, they began to say,^* “This one is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” ¹⁵Then Jesus, because he^* knew that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him^* king, withdrew again up the mountain by himself alone.