13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

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13 When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place. But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.

14 When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion (pity and deep sympathy) for them and cured their sick.

15 When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

16 Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.

17 They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.

18 He said, Bring them here to Me.

19 Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [[a]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

21 And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 14:20 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies. But according to James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary, the term refers to the type of material of which the basket is constructed (perhaps a wicker basket) and not necessarily the size of the basket.

13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds saw where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.

14 So when Jesus came out of the wilderness, a vast crowd was waiting for him, and he pitied them and healed their sick.

15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “It is already past time for supper, and there is nothing to eat here in the desert; send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy some food.”

16 But Jesus replied, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them!”

17 “What!” they exclaimed. “We have exactly five small loaves of bread and two fish!”

18 “Bring them here,” he said.

19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up into the sky, and asked God’s blessing on the meal, then broke the loaves apart and gave them to the disciples to place before the people. 20 And everyone ate until full! And when the scraps were picked up afterwards, there were twelve basketfuls left over! 21 (About five thousand men were in the crowd that day, besides all the women and children.)

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