¹² When the Lord has finished all his work^(A) against Mount Zion^(B) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria^(C) for the willful pride^(D) of his heart and the haughty look^(E) in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:

Ministers of the New Covenant

¹² Now when I went to Troas^(A) to preach the gospel of Christ^(B) and found that the Lord had opened a door^(C) for me, ¹³ I still had no peace of mind,^(D) because I did not find my brother Titus^(E) there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.^(F)

¹⁴ But thanks be to God,^(G) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma^(H) of the knowledge^(I) of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma^(J) of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.^{(K) 16} To the one we are an aroma that brings death;^(L) to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?^{(M) 17} Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.^(N) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,^(O) as those sent from God.^(P)

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves^(Q) again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation^(R) to you or from you? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.^{(S) 3} You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,^(T) not on tablets of stone^(U) but on tablets of human hearts.^(V)

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

³⁰ The apostles^(C) gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.^{(D) 31} Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,^(E) he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat^(F) to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.^(G) So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”^(H)

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages^[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”^(I)

³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.^(J) Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.