8During those days another large crowd gathered. They had nothing to eat. So Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, ²“I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. ³If I send them away hungry, they will become too weak on their way home. Some of them have come from far away.”

⁴His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

⁵“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. Then he broke them and gave them to his disciples. They set the loaves down in front of the people. ⁷The disciples also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for them too. He told the disciples to pass them around. ⁸The people ate and were satisfied.

After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹About 4,000 men were there. Jesus sent them away. ¹⁰Then he got into a boat with his disciples. He went to the area of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to ask Jesus questions. They wanted to put him to the test. So they asked him for a miraculous sign from heaven. ¹²He sighed deeply. He said, “Why do you people ask for a sign? What I’m about to tell you is true. No sign will be given to you.”

¹³Then he left them. He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to bring bread. They had only one loaf with them in the boat.

¹⁵“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. And watch out for the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶They talked about this with each other. They said, “He must be saying this because we don’t have any bread.”

¹⁷Jesus knew what they were saying. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Why can’t you see or understand? Are you stubborn? ¹⁸Do you have eyes and still don’t see? Do you have ears and still don’t hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹Earlier I broke five loaves for the 5,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

²⁰“Later I broke seven loaves for the 4,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they answered.

²¹He said to them, “Can’t you understand yet?”

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