Feeding the Five Thousand

³⁰And the apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. ³¹He said to them, "Come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest." People were constantly coming and going, and they didn't even have time to eat. ³²So they got in a boat and headed to a remote area by themselves. ³³But people saw them leaving and recognized them. Crowds from every nearby town ran ahead on foot and arrived before them. ³⁴When Jesus stepped ashore and saw the large crowd, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. ³⁵Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's getting very late. ³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat. They have no food." ³⁷But Jesus replied, "You feed them." They asked him, "Should we go and spend 200 denarii on bread to feed them?" ³⁸He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five loaves and two fish." ³⁹Jesus told them to have everyone sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So the people sat down in rows, in groups of one hundred and groups of fifty. ⁴¹When he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²Everyone ate and had their fill. ⁴³They took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fish. ⁴⁴And those who ate of the loaves were about five thousand men.