Feeding the Four Thousand

¹Around that time, another massive crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples over and said to them, ²I have compassion for these people, because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they'll collapse on the way — some of them have traveled a long distance." ⁴His disciples replied, "Where could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people out here in the middle of nowhere?" ⁵Jesus asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They answered, "7." ⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the 7 loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them apart, and handed the pieces to his disciples to pass out. They served the food to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish. Jesus blessed them and told the disciples to serve those as well. ⁸Everyone ate until they were full, and when they collected the leftovers, they filled 7 baskets. ⁹About 4,000 people had eaten. After that, Jesus sent the crowd on their way. ¹⁰Right away, he got into a boat with his disciples and headed to the region of Dalmanutha.