Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

10The apostles returned. They told Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him. They went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. 11But the crowds learned about it and followed Jesus. He welcomed them and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. He also healed those who needed to be healed.

12Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him. They said, “Send the crowd away. They can go to the nearby villages and countryside. There they can find food and a place to stay. There is nothing here.”

13Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.”

The disciples answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. We would have to go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14About 5,000 men were there.

But Jesus said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.” 15The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.

16Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke them into pieces. Then he gave them to the disciples to set in front of the people. 17All of them ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces.