Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

^13 (B)When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He ^(C)was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. ^15 (D)When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

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

¹⁷ And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, ^(E)He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. ²⁰ So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. ²¹ Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(F)

²² Immediately Jesus ^[a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ^23 (G)And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. ^(H)Now when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴ But the boat was now ^[b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him ^(I)walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^[c]“Be of good ^(J)cheer! ^[d]It is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw ^[e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of ^(K)little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ Then those who were in the boat ^[f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly ^(L)You are the Son of God.”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and ^(B)Timothy our brother,

To the church of God which is at Corinth, ^(C)with all the saints who are in all Achaia:

^2 (D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Comfort in Suffering

^3 (E)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who ^(F)comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any ^[a]trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as ^(G)the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our ^[b]consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶ Now if we are afflicted, ^(H)it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷ And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that ^(I)as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

Delivered from Suffering

⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of ^(J)our ^[c]trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should ^(K)not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ^10 (L)who delivered us from so great a death, and ^[d]does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹ you also ^(M)helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on ^[e]our behalf ^(N)for the gift granted to us through many.

Paul’s Sincerity

¹² For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in ^[f]simplicity and ^(O)godly sincerity, ^(P)not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴ (as also you have understood us in part), ^(Q)that we are your boast as ^(R)you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Sparing the Church

¹⁵ And in this confidence ^(S)I intended to come to you before, that you might have ^(T)a second benefit— ¹⁶ to pass by way of you to Macedonia, ^(U)to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan ^(V)according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸ But as God is ^(W)faithful, our ^[g]word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹ For ^(X)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, ^(Y)Silvanus, and ^(Z)Timothy—was not Yes and No, ^(AA)but in Him was Yes. ^20 (AB)For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AC)has anointed us is God, ²² who ^(AD)also has sealed us and ^(AE)given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.