Invitation to the Thirsty

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?^(A) Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?^(B)

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors^(A) through him who loved us.^{(B) 38} For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither the present nor the future,^(C) nor any powers,^{(D) 39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God^(E) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.^(F)

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[a]”^(A)

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand^(A)(B)

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them^(C) and healed their sick.^(D)

¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves^(E) of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.^(F) Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.